Johnny Depp Was Willing To Sell His Soul To Get Out Of Financial Mess

Johnny Depp is known for his high-end taste when it comes to fine wine and art, but the Pirates of the Caribbean star was reportedly willing to sell some of his priciest personal items—and maybe even a piece of his soul— to help his finances. New documents released in Depp’s $25 million lawsuit against his former business managers at the Mandel Group reveal that Johnny offered to unload art, cars, properties and more if it would improve his financial situation.

In court documents obtained by Deadline, Depp’s salaries for some of his biggest movies were revealed in an email exchange after TMG principal Joel Mandel said he needed the actor’s “help” to get him “through” financially until he started back to work again. In one exchange, the business manager asked Johnny to “take it easy” with his spending over the holidays, to which doting dad Johnny replied he was doing his best but “there is only so much I can do, as I need to give my kiddies and families as good a Christmas as possible, obviously within reason.”

To help diffuse the situation and justify his Christmas spending, Johnny Depp went on to list his upcoming movie jobs and their huge paychecks. Depp revealed he was about to start shooting The Tourist for $20 million, then would segue right into the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean flick, On Stranger Tides, for $35 million, then Dark Shadows for another $20 million. Depp expressed hope that his massive future paychecks and backend proceeds would “help put everything straight.”

Johnny Depp Team Emails Made Public In Lawsuit Detail Lavish Spending & Debt https://t.co/kmAPojcgub pic.twitter.com/QbKRCuqGYM

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) June 20, 2017

Johnny also promised that he could sideline spending at an upcoming auction, but he drew the line at commercial airplane travel.

“I don’t have all that many options at the moment,” Johnny wrote. “A commercial flight with paparazzis in tow would be a f***ing nightmare of monumental proportions.”

Johnny Depp went on to offer to sell some of his personal belongings if things were that bad.

“What else can I do???” Johnny wrote.

“You want me to sell same 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???”

Depp went on to tell his handlers he didn’t “like being in this situation,” but defended himself by saying didn’t have a choice due to a series of box-office bombs.

“The Rum Diary was a sacrifice we knew would be happening and the last proper paycheck was Public Enemies,” Depp wrote.

In the lawsuit, Depp alleges his former management team used his assets to secure $40 million worth of loans to cover up years of mishandling his money. As an example, Johnny accuses his former business managers of wasting his money by forgetting to cancel the lease on a hospice home for his ailing mother, Betty Sue Palmer, to the tune of $350,000 paid out after her death last May.

While Johnny Depp has alleged that his ex-managers swindled him out of millions, TMG has him pegged as a careless spendthrift who ignored their financial advice. TMG’s attorney told TMZ Depp’s claims are “outrageously false” and “preposterous” and said the actor is trying to prevent his attorney Jake Bloom and his ex-agent Tracey Jacobs from being subpoenaed in the case.

“Depp knows that these two critical witnesses will fully support TMG’s case and reveal Depp for the extraordinary liar and spendthrift that he is,” Mandel Group attorney Michael Krump told TMZ.

TMG’s counter-complaint against Depp reveal the actor forked out $30,000 a month on wine, $400,000 on a diamond cuff for ex Amber Heard, a whopping $5 million to shoot the ashes of pal Hunter S. Thompson out of a cannon, more than $10 million on an art collection, and an eye-popping $75 million on properties, including islands in the Bahamas.

But Johnny Depp’s attorney told People the actor is actually a shrewd investor, pointing out that the island in the Bahamas that Johnny bought for $5.3 million is now “worth many times that.” In addition, the French chateau Depp purchased for a few million is on the market for $30 million, and Basquiat paintings that he bought for low millions were later sold for $14 million.

Two years ago, Depp reportedly told TMG he was ready to “face the music” regarding his finances. When management asked him to sell his St. Tropez chateau in 2015, Johnny reportedly responded via text.

“I am ready to face the music, in whatever way I must. I know there’s a way to dig ourselves out of this hole and I am bound and determined to do it.”

Johnny Depp’s solution was to sue his former business managers for fraud, and only time will tell if it will pay off for him in the long run.

[Featured Image by Rich Fury/Getty Images]