Johnny Depp employs someone full-time to feed his lines to him on set?

Johnny Depp Leaving Lady Gaga's Birthday Party At Gjelina

Literally the same day that Johnny Depp was finalizing his divorce from Amber Heard, he began another legal journey which probably won’t be wrapped up any time soon. Johnny is suing his ex-management, The Management Group, because he says they defrauded him out of millions of dollars. TMG says they didn’t mismanage anything and Depp is just a booze-soaked liar who is made of lies. Depp countered those accusations with performative victimhood, claiming that he was the victim of a sustained campaign of gaslighting by TMG. As I said, this sh-t has been going on for months. It seems like every other week, there’s some new, shady story about Depp and his spending habits from the past few years. So… here’s the latest, which is basically just a list of all of the other crazy sh-t Depp has spent money on in the past five years or so:

His luxury properties: TMG claims Depp has “compulsive spending” issues on luxuries like 14 homes, 45 vehicles and even a chain of private islands in the Bahamas.

Wine is not an investment. Depp claims that all of the wine he purchases are investments. TMG counters with this: “Depp would be hard pressed to find a single bottle of wine that he purchased during his tenure with TMG that he or his various companions have not yet consumed. Wine is not an investment if you drink it as soon as you buy it.”

Compulsive spending disorder? The court papers read: “Depp’s extravagant spending has often been marked by a lack of impulse control and often increased immediately after [TMG co-founder Joel] Mandel would confront Depp regarding his finances. In retrospect, it appears that Depp may suffer from a compulsive spending disorder, which will be proven in this action through a mental examination of Depp pursuant to California [court rules] and expert testimony.”

Depp’s assets: He has $75 million worth of properties including a 45-acre chateau in the South of France, multiple homes in Hollywood and LA, and a Kentucky horse farm. He also spent $18 million on a 150-foot yacht, bought more than 200 works by famed artists, “many pieces of expensive world class jewelry,” 70 collectible guitars, 12 storage facilities full of Hollywood memorabilia, $150,000 a month on personal security for him and his family and $300,000 a month for a staff of 40 full-time employees around the world, TMG alleges. TMG also said Depp has spent as much as $1.2 million a year for a “personal on-call physician,” and “millions more to employ an army of attorneys.”

The Depp whisperer: Monday’s court filing exposed additional spending that includes “hundreds of thousands of dollars to employ a full-time sound engineer, who Depp has used for years to feed him lines during film production….Depp insisted that this sound engineer be kept on yearly retainer so that he no longer had to memorize his lines,” according to the papers.

[From The NY Post]

It’s that last one that is getting a lot of attention, because WTF? How long has Depp been like THAT? How long has been wearing an earpiece so someone can feed him his lines? Isn’t he being paid tens of millions of dollars to show up and at the very least remember his g–damn lines?

Depp’s lawyer responded to TMG’s latest filings by calling it “psychobabble.” But the lawyer only said that after he made sure that Depp’s check cleared, because who actually believes that Depp might have some kind of compulsive spending problem now? Me! Oh, and TMG also claims that Depp needed his huge team of lawyers (all with huge retainers) “to bail him out of numerous legal crises, including making a series of hush money settlements. Because Depp is disingenuously challenging TMG’s payment of certain of these fees and expenses in this litigation, the details of these payments and settlements will be fully revealed during discovery and at trial.” Oooh, I’m listening.

Johnny Depp's Hollywood Vampires Perform In Bucharest

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

40 Responses to “Johnny Depp employs someone full-time to feed his lines to him on set?”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. amalia says:

    What an idiot – but actors, athletes,… earn too much $$ anyway.

    • Price says:

      So much money and apparently no money at all to buy shampoo or soap.

    • Miss S says:

      Well, if they also make lots of money for others so I don’t have a problem with it. I do hv issues with people who are paid huge salaries and then their “talent” doesn’t reflect on a good return of investment… And Depp is one of those. He makes too much money for him without bringing the crowds to the cinema.

    • Pandy says:

      Honestly, how can they just spend and spend and spend on stuff like cars and too many homes around the world? When is enough – enough?

      • Miss S says:

        There’s actually a book about economy with that title or something similar “How much is enough”. I suppose that when people have voids to fill nothing will be enough…

  2. Guest says:

    He was probably too stoned to remember his lines.

  3. sarri says:

    No wonder he’s broke (if it’s true).

    Plus, he looks awful in the first pic.

  4. lizzie says:

    he looks f*#@ing disgusting

  5. Chelly says:

    If that’s the case we can all in films if a lot of people could look past perhaps their stage fright! I mean c’mon, that’s beyond ridiculous…..the most overpaid actor could not be more accurate right now. What a dip-sh*t thing to do

  6. krAkken says:

    That’s about as close to “phoning it in” as one could get.
    What a joke this guy has become.

  7. Mia4s says:

    He’s one of those bizarre Brando worshippers (as in Brando could do no wrong…ha!) and that was Brando’s thing all through the 70s. He never learned his lines. Pathetic.

    That statement about the hush payouts is BRILLIANT litigation strategy. Now we are all wondering…

    • YARN says:

      There was an article about his bodyguard Jerry Judge written in Australia when Depp was filming pirates 5 that alluded to him asking around and trying to pay off people about the sources that revealed he had a blow out with Amber and that was the reason he hurt his hand. It was a very interesting read… seems he has his bodyguards do his “dirty work” for him.

      • True says:

        People from POC set said he was a nightmare to work with, and is known that his entourage always bullie and pay people to save his ass.

      • Miss S says:

        It really infuriates me that these people behave like that and are still rewarded just because somewhere in the past they were these big stars. His films flop, he doesn’t seem to be that professional, he doesn’t give a sh*t about the promotional duties, he barely tries and relies solely on his hats and wigs… Why are people still paying him so much??!!

    • third ginger says:

      Yes. Even in filming THE GODFATHER.

  8. Nanny to the Rescue says:

    I can believe that happening sometimes but not all of the time. Wouldn’t the producers have something to say about that? It would sure be interesting if actors conracts all of a sudden had a special clause stating they have to memorise their lines too. It’s like telling a plumber he is obligated to work with pipes.

    That top picture … Did he loose lots of weight?

    • Erinn says:

      He makes them money, they probably don’t care.

      • Miss S says:

        But apparently he doesn’t make them that much money anymore. He is always on the list of the overpaid actors because he doesn’t bring the crowds to the cinemas like he used to…

    • Bridget says:

      No. For a star of Depp’s stature, it would have to be an epic meltdown to the point of him not being able to work and the entire production going under. Otherwise they’re not risking it.

  9. Olga says:

    He looks like sh!t and reminds me of the people who take crystal meth.

    • Bread and Circuses says:

      –>Depp has spent as much as $1.2 million a year for a “personal on-call physician,”

      I wonder what that physician prescribes…

  10. minx says:

    I think of Depp from Ed Wood, Gilbert Grape, Edward Scissorhands. I can’t believe it’s the same person as this dissipated, lazy spendthrift.

  11. Indira says:

    Seriously what has happened to him? He used to be an attractive man and I really loved him in Cry-Baby.

    https://media.giphy.com/media/OV05Ku5wtPfKE/giphy.gif

    • Deering says:

      Mega-stardom coupled with no sense of perspective happened. He’s lived most of his life in front of a camera and has no sense of the real world because he’s never had to develop one.

  12. Dex and Destruction says:

    Sounds like Depp came down with a case of “Nicolas Cage-itis.”

  13. Ruth says:

    His lawyer’s statement said that there was a 7 month investigation by 4 different firms before Depp sued them and that they have people who back up their claims against TMG.No way these guys are clean. They are just throwing out accusations to catch the public eye.That line feeding claim is embarrassing for Depp but it still doesn’t prove that their innocence. About the hush money, the only thing certain is that there will be nothing related to the divorce cause they were already fired by then. Probably about that Iggy pop concert incident and who knows what else.

    • IMO says:

      I think there will be stories about how his security team paid people in Australia and Japan to not say anything or sell pictures (interviews, sources, …) about his erratic behavior and violent outbursts with his ex wife.

    • Fanny says:

      I wouldn’t be surprised if TMG also had some funny business going on too because Depp is an easy target: too rich, too drunk, and too spend-happy to keep track of every penny.

      However it’s obvious that Depp’s spending is reckless. I would be shocked if he ever had enough money to afford all of the stuff he bought. That’s the crux of the issue – he’s broke because he spends too much. That’s not TMG’s fault. All they can do is warn him because, as Johnny told the WSJ, it’s his money and if he wants to buy 15,000 cotton balls a day he can…until the money runs out.

      I used to look at Johnny and wonder how he could afford the private island, the yacht, the private jet trips, the villa in France. People would assume he had enough money because of POTC but I think people are vastly overestimating how much money that actually is. It’s not unlimited.

    • Bridget says:

      What’s interesting is that TMG is going all in on their claims against Depp. Because while I’ve seen some folks here allude to shady behavior on TMG’s part, NONE of Depp’s claims seem to focus on that – rather, the focus is on his spending.

      • Fanny says:

        Exactly. It appears that Depp ran out of money and decided it was TMG’s fault and sued them. I haven’t heard any concrete accusation on his part.

        That famous Hollywood money manager swindler Dana Giacchetto was telling his clients that their investments were bringing in huge returns when they weren’t; when his clients tried to get their profits, he’d take money out of other client’s accounts to pay them. That’s very clear cut malfeasance and fraud.

        Maybe Depp’s auditors have something legit, but his staff seems to consist of yes-men who tell him what he wants to hear and will do his bidding as long as they get paid, so we’ll see…

  14. mkyarwood says:

    I would excuse, like, Sir Ian McKellan when it comes to the need of a line feeder. And he doesn’t use one.

  15. Jay says:

    Like how many men in hollywood have fake hair, getting fed your lines isn’t that unheard of. Other actors do it too. Actors actually remembering their lines is almost more shocking. Majority don’t need an earpiece to feed them their lines, but there are others that do.

    • Nanny to the Rescue says:

      For example who else wears an earpiece or is fed lines?

      I can see, perhaps, stars of Depp’s calibre to get away with that, but not many others.

      And there’s a difference between wearing a wig and being unprofessional.

  16. boredblond says:

    Hate to disillusion anyone, but nearly every film set has someone there to feed lines..part of the crew..they do it before the shot

    • Nanny to the Rescue says:

      But they’re not talking about the standard “whisperers” and people who run lines with actors before the scene. They’re mentioning a sound engeneer he himself employs additionally to that. Like he’s being fed lines during the scene itself via an earpiece or something. Otherwise this wouldn’t be a story at all.

  17. Borgqueen says:

    I lost my love for Depp years ago. He is the reason why Winona Ryder went off the deep end for awhile. I heard they were having their usual drug and sex romp when Depp either accidentally shot her or pushed her through a glass balcony door. (I heard the story so long ago so i dont remember exactly). Either way Winona needed medical help and pain pills which turned into an addiction.

    Are we shocked that he has his lines fed to him? He’s been a drunk and druggie foreva. And who is his ultimate inspiration in life, Hunter S. Thompson and spent $5 million (Depp’s own words) to shoot him out of a cannon. Anyone with eyes can see that in the POC franchise, especially the last one, Depp takes a beat before saying his lines. I always felt it was too long a pause before he spoke. Now we know why.

  18. Nezzy says:

    Bruce Willis in Death of a Salesman ….. Had an ear piece and was fed all his lines apparently it was part of the contract as he has done it loads before… Just saying

  19. Blackbetty says:

    He looks awful