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Hollywood heartthrob Johnny Depp took in hundreds of millions of dollars as Captain Jack Sparrow in Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and other movies, but not enough to pay for his own swashbuckling lifestyle.
The 54-year-old actor's financial implosion is at the heart of the lawsuit Depp brought against his former business manager, seeking $US25 million in damages for negligence and mismanagement, that provides a rare glimpse into the dealings between megastars and those they entrust with running their business and private life.
In a preliminary hearing this week in Los Angeles, Depp's lawyers persuaded a state judge to narrow counterclaims by the Management Group that the actor is to blame for his financial problems. The management company Depp fired last year alleges the actor repeatedly ignored its warnings that his $US2-million-a-month lifestyle, including $US30,000 just for wine, wasn't sustainable.
"When Depp was confronted by TMG or any of his other advisers about his spending, he most often engaged in profanity-laced tirades where he abused the professionals surrounding him and claimed that he would work harder to afford whatever new item he wanted to purchase," the company said in a court filing.
Depp's purchases included a 45-acre chateau in the South of France, a chain of islands in the Bahamas, a 150-foot luxury yacht, art works by Andy Warhol and Gustav Klimt, 70 collectible guitars, 40 full-time employees around the world and a specially made cannon that he used to blast the ashes of Hunter Thompson over Aspen, Colorado, according to his former business managers.
Depp has argued that the litany of big-ticket purchases is "an improper, retaliatory effort" to publicly attack him and distract from the Management Group's wrongdoing.
The Beverly Hills-based company, headed by brothers Joel and Robert Mandel, received 5 per cent of Depp's gross income, or about $US28 million over 17 years, to manage almost every aspect of his personal and business life, including paying his bills, arranging travel, buying and selling properties, and handling his taxes.
The company had on average four full-time employees working on Depp-related matters and at times as many as 12, the Management Group said.
Unlike the talent agents and entertainment lawyers whose services Hollywood stars rely on, business managers aren't regulated, which creates a greater risk of conflicts of interest, improper behaviour and disputes ending up in court, said Devin McRae, a lawyer with Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae, who has represented celebrities including Shannen Doherty in lawsuits with their business managers.
"They pitch themselves to high earners as a one-stop shop that they will do everything for them," McRae said. "So, it's not uncommon to hear complaints that they didn't do what they were supposed to do."
In the Depp case, the business manager's deflection of blame on the client is problematic because it raises the question of whether the company should have represented Depp if it wasn't able to control him, according to McRae.
"If your client isn't doing what you're telling him, maybe it's time to fire your client," McRae said.
The Management Group wouldn't drop a long-term client during "his most difficult time", Michael Kump, a lawyer for the company, said in a statement last week.
"During the 17-year period they represented him, TMG was part of a team of advisers who acted in the very best interests of Depp and helped propel him to super-stardom. The idea that Depp would have been better off without TMG is bizarre," Kump said.
Bloomberg