Johnny Depp settles lawsuit against business managers
LOS ANGELES: About a month away from a trial that would have captivated the showgiz industry, Johnny Depp has settled his blockbuster lawsuit against his former business managers.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Depp filed his US$25 million fraud case against The Management Company at the beginning of 2017.
He alleged being the victim of gross misconduct and that the firm — run by Joel and Robert Mandell, and which had represented him for 17 years — had failed to file or pay his taxes on time, failed to keep proper books, loaned money to third parties without authorisation and was self-dealing by investing his money in business ventures in which the firm’s partners had ownership stakes. Depp was looking to recover commissions.
But that was only his side of the story.
According to the Mandels, who brought counterclaims, the firm repeatedly warned and advised Depp to reduce his spending and sell unnecessary assets. They charged Depp with living an “ultra-extravagant lifestyle that knowingly cost Depp in excess of US$2 million per month to maintain, which he simply could not afford.”
Depp’s alleged spending — US$30,000 a month for wine, US$500,000 in rental fees for storage warehouses that held his Hollywood collectibles, US$200,000 for a private jet, and on and on — all became fodder in the lawsuit. The detailed spending also fuelled many stories telling how he blew an estimated US$650 million fortune.
The trial was quickly advancing with an Aug 15 date that the judge refused to move back any further. The mediation session represented the parties’ last shot at coming to a deal, and both sides were probably motivated to avoid any embarrassing secrets that would come out in open court.
Then again, Depp and his lawyer recently told Rolling Stone that this lawsuit would change Hollywood forever.
Instead, with no word on the terms of the settlement and dismissal papers forthcoming, it will end quietly, if certainly memorably.