Johnny Depp Lawsuit Ties Money Problems to Spending $2 Million a Month
This might explain why the rum is always gone.
Johnny Depp has had a rough year all around -- ugly divorce, flops at the box office, and now money problems. Depp sued his former business team The Management Group (TMG) for $25 million, arguing "gross mismanagement and sometimes outright fraud," but they just fired back with their own lawsuit, asking Depp to pay up for unpaid commissions and fees, and arguing that if Depp is hard up for cash it's his own fault. Or, as TMG put it in the cross-complaint, Depp lived an "ultra-extravagant lifestyle that often knowingly cost Depp in excess of $2 million per month to maintain, which he simply could not afford."
So now TMG is airing Depp's dirty laundry, at least the money side of it, with People magazine posting this list of expenditures, via the legal complaint now on file:
- Over $75 million on 14 residences, including a 45-acre chateau in the South of France, a chain of islands in the Bahamas, multiple houses in Hollywood, several penthouse lofts in downtown Los Angeles and a horse farm in Kentucky.
- $18 million to "acquire and renovate a 150 foot luxury yacht."
- Millions more buying and maintaining 45 luxury vehicles.
- $30,000 per month on expensive wines flown from all over the world.
- $3 million to blast the ashes of Hunter S. Thompson out of a custom-made cannon in Aspen, Colorado.
- Tens of millions on "a massive and extremely expensive art collection," including "world class jewelry," about 70 collectible guitars and over 200 works by artists such as Warhol, Klimt, Basquiat, and Modigliani.
- Millions on collectibles and memorabilia involving icons such as Marilyn Monroe, John Dillinger and Marlon Brando. The collection is so extensive it fills "12 storage facilities" and cost over $1 million just to archive.
- $300,000 per month on 40 full-time employees.
- $150,000 per month on full-time security guards that protect him and his family "24/7, 365 days a year" wherever they go.
- $200,000 per month on private planes.
- $10 million over the years on supporting various friends and family, including $4 million invested into a failed music label run by a friend.
There are always at least two sides to every story, and Depp's lawsuit alleges that "TMG treated Mr. Depp's income as their own," lending money to others without Depp's authorization; paying itself $28 million in fees without his consent; and failing to pay Depp's taxes on time, leading to $5.6 million in fees and penalties. TMG countered that it "filed each and every tax return timely" and "always maintained state-of-the-art accounting records."
The woes of the 1 percent, eh? Sounds like it pays to be Johnny Depp's friend, if he's that generous. And considering Depp still picks up massive paychecks -- despite being Hollywood's most overpaid star two years in a row -- all he has to do is wait for his "Fantastic Beasts" checks to clear, and money from the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie to come in, and he'll be back up on top.
[via People]
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