As we all know, Johnny Depp is suing his former managers, The Management Group, for allegedly mishandling his money. TMG is countersuing Johnny basically for being a sh-tty client. In pre-trial documents released last year, it was revealed that Johnny is obscenely irresponsible with his finances, suggesting that his behaviour resulted in this current cash-flow problems. That trial begins in August. Last month Deadline reported that his own lawyers tapped out on him and then his replacement lawyers also decided not to represent him.
And now more people are suing him. Page Six broke the news yesterday that two of Johnny’s former security guards are suing him for $25 million in “unpaid overtime, wages, meal and rest break compensation and penalties as well as attorney fees plus damages”. Eugene Arreola and Miguel Sanchez claim that Johnny subjected them to unsafe working conditions and that they were asked to perform tasks that were outside of their job descriptions – like acting as guardians for his son, chauffeuring around his friends and family, and driving around with “open containers” and “illegal substances”. They describe an incident where they had to step in to protect Johnny when those “illegal substances” were “visible” on his face while he was in public. And then there was the time a gun went off on the property because his lead bodyguard accidently shot himself in the leg. Johnny Depp’s home sounds like a really peaceful and stable place. Why would Amber Heard ever want to leave?
How much longer will people continue with the narrative that Johnny has been exploited – by his ex-wife, by his former managers, by whoever it is you want to blame? When several teams of lawyers don’t even want to take on his case – and it’s not like lawyers in Hollywood are particularly discerning about defending celebrities – what other excuse can he come up with?
And what does Warner Bros think of all this? Last year they came out hard on his side, backing his casting as Gellert Grindelwald in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts sequel. They have time in their favour as the movie doesn’t come out for another 6 months but this is the dark mark on the project right now. His character’s name is in the title. And their lead character is a mess.
On the personal side, who does Johnny have in his life who will tell him about himself? Vanessa Paradis was good for him until she couldn’t be anymore. His longtime agent, Tracey Jacobs, who guided his career for 25 years, was good for him, until he fired her. Johnny is now co-represented by Bryan Lourd at CAA, the top dog at CAA. For them then, are they interested in fixing the damage? Or controlling the damage? Big difference.
