“My son had to hear about how his old man lost all his money from kids at school, that’s
not right”.
It is a widespread opinion that Hollywood’s famous and rich are immune to the problems
we mortals face.
Their issues are so superficial.
They can buy literally anything, can’t they, and their gold reserves are bottomless.
The case of Johnny Depp proves us wrong.
Depp’s movies have earned over $10 billion worldwide, with Depp making about $650 million.
But his estimated net worth of $200 million was almost all gone by 2018, according to
Rolling Stone’s widely-read cover story on the actor.
This guy started by buying his mama a house with his first big paycheck.
His fame grew, as did his bank account and appetite for luxury.
And here we are, reading about Depp spending $30,000 a month on exclusive wine alone.
Correction: “It’s insulting to say that I spent $30,000 on wine,” Depp commented
on the matter, “because it was far more.”
For the past four years, Depp has been navigating through one lawsuit after another.
And if you think his feud - emotional, legal and, yes, a financial one,- with ex-wife Amber
Heard is his sole recent cause of headaches, think again.
Before we dive deeper into Depp’s making, spending and losing his fortunes, don’t
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We started this video with a quote from Johnny Depp’s big interview slash profile for Rolling
Stone magazine.
When the issue was released, Depp went on to criticize the magazine, calling the article
a “sham”.
Nevertheless, some direct quotes are quite telling, illustrating that Depp’s relationship
with his finances has always been pretty hard to grasp and interpret.
When Depp sued his former lawyers and managers for mishandling his affairs, they retaliated.
Yeah, Depp’s relationship with his lawyers and managers, who had been by his side for
years, turned sour pretty fast as more and more strange money-related occurrences were
being unearthed.
His opponents insisted that Depp was aware of his financial troubles.
His former managers even suggested that Depp may be suffering from some psychiatric issues
like a compulsive-spending disorder.
These legal battles have been settled for now.
But not before we learned about Depp’s own monstrous spending habits.
Depp’s spending was so bad at times that his agents had to scurry and look for new
projects that would bring in additional money.
A source in the industry told Vanity Fair that it was extra difficult to find good-quality
scripts for Depp whose usual fee at the time was $10-million-plus.
That is why we have such flops as Transcendence, Mortdecai, and The Lone Ranger.
In 2009, Depp listed his upcoming projects to his lawyer: The Tourist, for $20 million;
Pirates of the Caribbean 4 for $35 million; and Dark Shadows for another $20 million.
The actor then asked for advice on how to come up with more money.
“What else can I do?
You want me to sell some art?
I will.
You want me to sell something else?
Sure, what?
I got bikes, cars, property, books, paintings and some semblance of a soul left.
Where would you like me to start?”
Many of you are probably thinking, $20 million plus for a single movie, and Depp has the
guts to complain about being broke?!
Wait until you hear where the money goes.
From his lawyers to his family members, everyone wanted a piece of Depp’s fortune.
And he used to trust his (now former) legal team.
“If there were things for me to sign that would come in [...], I would sign them like
this,” Depp told Rolling Stone and pretended to sign an imaginary document without even
glancing at it.
Today, the actor added, he studies the papers carefully before putting his signature on
them.
When Depp first arrived in LA from Florida, he was intent on making it as a rocker.
That was long before the days when his lawyers would try and persuade him to sell one of
his luxury homes to raise some much-needed cash.
At 19, Depp’s first and foremost worry was the realization that his first career choice
wasn’t paying the bills.
In order to put food on the table, Depp took odd jobs, including telemarketing — “selling
pens over the phone in order to eat”.
One of his buddies, a fellow named Nicolas Cage, advised Depp to try his hand in acting,
as there was more money involved.
Johnny agreed and soon booked what proved to be his breakout role in 21 Jump Street.
Which led to him being labeled as a “TV boy”.
Luckily, his agent found him a new project.
So what if it was a little bit odd?
“It was the story of a boy with scissors for hands — an innocent outcast in suburbia,”
Depp recalls.
“I read the script instantly and wept like a newborn.”
As we all know now, director Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands was a 90s smash and went
on to become a cult classic.
As years went by, Depp found his calling by playing quirky, out-of-this-world characters.
Some thought there was no good in that.
Say, in 1994, Johnny Depp took up the role of Ed Wood in the eponymous movie (directed,
once again, by Tim Burton).
Depp’s adviser at the time did not react well to the news.
“The guy told me, ‘Johnny, it is not about you doing black-and-white movies about a cross-dressing,
D-movie director – it’s about f***ing the girl and carrying the gun.’
” Depp’s reaction was to star in more quirky
movies that brought him more fame and more money.
A year after the “f***ing the girl and carrying the gun” talk, Depp made headlines by buying
a vast home in West Hollywood, more like a castle, really, for $2.3 million.
The castle was just the beginning.
In 2003, Depp was paid $11 million to portray Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates of the Caribbean
movie.
Audiences instantly fell in love with Depp’s character, and thus, a multi billion dollar
franchise was born.
In 2011, Depp sat for an interview with Larry King and reflected on the irony.
“[...] The fact that you have a 20-year career of failures and then you do a pirate
movie and that buys you an island [...], the irony of that is pretty good.”
In the same interview, Depp recalled what his friend told him years ago: money doesn’t
change you; it reveals who you truly are.
And Depp still saw himself as that guy that used to pump gas to make ends meet.
Certain people in his life, however, saw him as something completely different.
Johnny Depp worshipped his mother, Betty Sue, despite their complicated relationship.
He used his first big paycheck to buy her a small horse farm near Lexington, Kentucky.
Little did he know that his gift would turn into a money pit.
Soon, one of Depp’s sisters moved in with her husband.
The couple were hired to manage the property, with their son joining the payroll later.
Eventually, Depp was informed by his now ex-team of managers that spending at the Kentucky
estate was out of control.
Here’s a grim anecdote: Depp requested a report on the expenses, and when it arrived,
the actor was on set of Pirates of the Caribbean.
He asked his assistant to print the report, but it was near impossible, since the document
was over 200 pages.
Depp contacted his manager who revealed that Depp’s sister who lived with his bedridden
Mom was buying her numerous luxury items such as handbags and jewelry.
In 2013, Betty Sue was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Thanks to Johnny’s care, she lived for another three years but passed away in 2016.
What about her farm?
Well, Depp’s family still lives there.
“Their thinking is that I’m going to take care of them forever and that the farm is
now theirs,” the actor commented.
“I didn’t make that promise.”
Why didn’t he cut them off, then?
Depp says he was convinced that his legal team would take care of that.
Same goes for him having to pay the Internal Revenue Service over $5.6 million in late
fees.
The actor argues that he had no clue he was in such deep trouble.
His former financial advisers say the payments were made late because Depp was chronically
short on cash.
Nevertheless, Depp maintained his lavish lifestyle which he knowingly or unknowingly could no
longer afford.
Spontaneously buying a $400,000 diamond cuff or a couple of suits worth $100,000 isn’t
a big deal for him.
Depp likes to tell the story of how he spent $3 million (or $5 million, as he told Rolling
Stone) to scatter the ashes of his beloved friend Hunter S. Thompson with a cannon.
According to his former lawyers, Depp has spent $75 million to '’acquire, improve,
and furnish 14 residences” all around the world.
The actor prefers to travel on a private plane, which costs him $200,000 a month.
In one of his 2009 emails to his former legal team, Depp defended his choice of transportation:
“I don’t have all that many options at the moment.
A commercial flight with paparazzis in tow would be a fucking nightmare of monumental
proportions.”
In the same email, Depp promises to watch his Christmas spending as best as he can:
“[...] I need to give my kiddies and [family] as good a Christmas as possible, obviously
within reason.”
Depp is a generous relative; his former lawyers say he spends up to $10 million to support
friends and family.
His 40 full-time employees cost him $300,00 a month.
Personal round-the-clock security for himself, his two kids and various family members is
$150,000 a month more.
Depp has allegedly spent millions to hire extra lawyers in addition to his existing
team “to bail him out of numerous legal crises” and pay “hush money.”
Depp has compared his recent financial woes to The Matrix.
“I’m just a small part of this.
I didn’t see the movie, and I didn’t understand the script, but here’s what it is.”
The last couple of years have brought many bad news for Depp.
Judging by his reaction, he only recently understood how dire his financial situation
might be.
His Mom died.
And, of course, his much-publicized, scandal and controversy-ridden divorce from Amber
Heard was yet another blow for the actor.
He admits this was the lowest point in his life.
It was stressed in the Rolling Stone article that Depp felt alone.
He is constantly surrounded by people - lawyers, cooks, bodyguards, journalists - but those
are people who get paid to work for him.
However, he seems to have found it in himself to fight back.
Depp said his Mother had taught him to never start fights but to finish them if someone
attacked him first.
He fights for his daughter, Lily-Rose, and son, Jack.
They are his real priceless treasure.