In the latest assassination on his character, Johnny Depp's former business managers are claiming that the actor pressured one of his staff members to "take the fall" for illegally bringing his two dogs into Australia while filming the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
TMG has been in a lengthy and bitter court battle with Depp, who is claiming that the company swindled him out of millions of dollars in earnings, while his ex-managers allege it has been his out-of-control spending that left them out of pocket.
In the latest documents filed to the court and obtained by People magazine, TMG reportedly claimed that the actor was "fully aware that he was illegally bringing his dogs to Australia" when he was filming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in May 2015.
"Depp falsely claimed to authorities and in public press interviews that the incident was a big misunderstanding because he supposedly believed his staff had obtained the necessary paperwork," they said.
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TMG further claimed that, when Depp was publicly confronted by Australian authorities, after a Gold Coast groomer posted pictures of the dogs on Facebook, he "pressured one of his long-term employees to 'take the fall'."
The dogs, Pistol and Boo, were quickly whisked out of the country after then-agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce threatened to have the Yorkshire terriers euthanised if they did not return to the United States within 72 hours.
Depp never faced charges but his then-wife Amber Heard faced 10 years in jail and a hefty fine for illegally importing the dogs and falsifying her arrival card.
Heard eventually pleaded guilty to producing a false document and received a one-month good behaviour bond, with no conviction.
The couple also made an apology video played to the court.
Depp later appeared on Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show saying: "I think the choice they made to utilise the taxpayers' dollars to globally chase down a couple of teacup Yorkies and give them 50 hours to live … I realised the badness of my ways, so I was repenting."
The TMG lawsuit continues.