Last month, Johnny Depp sued his former business managers, The Management Groups, for allegedly mismanaging his earnings causing him to lose tens of millions of dollars.
Two weeks later, it was the turn of The Management Group to file a countersuit where the company claimed that the actor was maintaining a $2 million a month lavish lifestyle that caused him his most recent financial troubles.
The Management Group also said that they have issued repeated warnings to the actor but the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star repeatedly ignored it.
According to the lawsuit lodged before the court by The Management Group, Depp paid more than $75 million to buy and maintain 14 homes, including a French chateau and a chain of islands in the Bahamas, reports News.com.au.
The actor also spent heavily to buy a 150-foot yacht, fly on private jets, and cultivate collections of fine art and Hollywood memorabilia requiring 12 storage facilities to maintain, the lawsuit said.
Depp was repeatedly warned by the company that his spending was out of control but ignored his former advisers’ recommendation to control his spending.
The lawsuit stated that it was Depp, and Depp alone, who is fully responsible for any financial turmoil he finds himself in today.
Seeking compensatory damages
In his lawsuit filed on January 13, Johnny Depp is seeking more than $25 million in compensatory damages which he contends was mismanaged by The Management Group.
He filed the complaint, which is 52 pages long, against The Mandel Co., The Management Group, Joel L. Mandel, Robert Mandel, First American Title Insurance Co., and 15 other unnamed defendants.
The “Edward Scissorhands” actor is seeking a jury trial and asking for compensatory damages as he alleged that the self-dealing by TMG was so extensive that he’s been forced to sell off assets to pay for the losses.
The suit contains 11 causes of action, including professional negligence, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment.
The management companies have denied the actor’s allegations and responded that the lawsuit is a mere fabrication and a result of Depp’s profligate spending.
Attorney Matthew Kanny, the lawyer of Johnny Depp, said that his client is one of the most sought after and highly paid actors in the world. But he said that his client is a victim of the gross misconduct of his business managers purportedly based on an oral contract, all at the actor’s expense.
Kanny explained that like many successful artists who depend on financial professionals to advise them, Johnny Depp trusted and reasonably relied on TMG to handle his financial and certain legal affairs and to ensure that he and his family would have a financially secure future, built upon the foundation of the substantial money that the actor earned through years of hard work.
But instead, as a result of years of gross mismanagement and at times, outright fraud, Johnny Depp lost tens of millions of dollars and has been forced to dispose significant assets to pay for TMG’s self-dealing and gross misconduct, cites his lawyer.
Not the first big name actor to sue for fund mismanagement
The countersuit seeks a judge’s ruling that Depp is to blame for his financial troubles and $560,000 in fees The Management Group said it is owed by the actor. The money being sought comes on top of $4.2 million the firm announced on January 13 that it was seeking from Depp for repayment of a loan it said it made to the actor.
Depp is not the first blockbuster star to take his former managers to court alleging mismanagement, points out Global News of Canada.
Nicolas Cage sued his former business manager seeking $20 million for alleged mismanagement in 2009 and the manager in a countersuit cited the actor’s spending for his financial troubles. The case was resolved before trial.