One one of the highest-paid actors in the world, Johnny Depp, is tangled in a lawsuit against his former managers who allege Depp has been "spendthrift of epic proportions, who, despite his manager’s constant warnings, refused to curb his 'selfish, reckless, and irresponsible lifestyle,'" according to Vanity Fair. Frankly, the details spilling out of that legal action are just fantastic.
Depp is charging his former managers Robert and Joel Mandel, of their firm the Management Group (TMG), and is "seeking $25 million in damages for negligence, fraud, unjust enrichment, and breach of fiduciary duty, among other things," Vanity Fair reported. TMG claimed Depp was spending $2 million per month.
Vanity Fair elaborated:
The Mandels’ cross-complaint describes 14 residences, including the château in France and a four-island chain in the Bahamas. There were also a 156-foot cash-guzzling yacht and 12 Los Angeles storage facilities full of memorabilia, including 70 collectible guitars, plus major artwork by Klimt, Modigliani, and Basquiat, among others. Forty full-time employees cost Depp $300,000 a month, they claimed — although Waldman says there are only 15 employees, some of them consultants. Round-the-clock security for himself, his two children, and various family members costs $150,000 a month more. In addition to the $10 million supporting friends and family, he spent $30,000 a month on wine “flown to him around the world,” the lawsuit alleges, and $5 million for a blowout memorial service for the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, including blasting his ashes from a 153-foot custom-built cannon at Thompson’s home in Aspen. (Depp idolized Thompson and later told his attorney, “If I had $5 million and one dollar, I [still] would have done it. That was my brother.”)
As to those Bahaman islands, the story is a bit less glam than the quote above lets on.
In 2004, Depp went shopping for islands to buy. Against the advisement of Joel Mandel, the actor purchased "Little Hall’s Pond Cay, a chain of four uninhabited islands 60 nautical miles southeast of Nassau," according to Vanity Fair.
The island had six beaches, but had "no plumbing, sewage facilities, or electricity." Vanity Fair cited a source close to TMG who said Mandel had focused on the issue of "the exorbitant expense of creating infrastructure" while Depp was only focused on one thing, a cozy getaway for him, his wife and family. The islands were on the market for $3.6 million, but Mandel negotiated the price down to $3,225,000, according to Vanity Fair.
If the situation there at all reminds you of the failed Fyre Festival, in which no preparations were made beforehand and what seemed like a lavish idea at the time turned out to be a costly expenditure, it only shows you've been paying attention.
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