The saddest thought emerging from revelations of film star Johnny Depp’s £1.5 million a month spending is the extravagant opulence is funded out of poorer people’s pockets.
Depp, in common with musicians, sports stars and other celebrities have a life of fame and fortune financed by fans paying for tickets and merchandise promoting their heroes.
His secret spending was revealed in court papers released by his former managers countering claims of failing to look after his finances.
Last week, Depp started a lawsuit claiming The Mandel Company failed to pay his taxes, made unauthorised loans and paid over the top for ‘security and other services’. The result was his money started to run out to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.
Private jets, fine wine and an army of staff
The company responded by saying that it “did everything within its power over the last 17 years to protect Depp from himself and to keep Depp financially solvent but did not have the power or ability to control Depp’s spending or his numerous other vices, or to force Depp to make wiser financial decisions.”
The scathing remarks were accompanied by examples of his alleged excess:
- Almost £60 million spent to refurbish and furnish 14 houses around the world
- Millions more on buying luxury cars
- £14.3 million on buying and refitting a 150-foot yacht now owned by Harry Potter author JK Rowling
- Leasing a private jet and refusing to fly with airlines that sets Depp back £160,000 a month
- £24,000 a month spent on flying fine wines around the world for his personal consumption
- Maintaining a collection of more than 70 classic guitars
- Millions spent buying jewellery and Hollywood mementoes of classic movies and stars kept in 12 storage centres
- Even more spending on a collection of contemporary art running into millions, which includes works by Basquiat and Warhol
- An army of 40 staff including round-the-clock security costing another £250,000 a month in salaries
- Spending £2.4 million to have writer Hunter S Thompson’s ashes fired over the resort of Aspen, Colorado, when he died to fulfil a lifetime’s wish
Money for friends and family
The depositions also shows Depp in common with other stars has spent more millions on paying for homes and living costs for family and friends.
He paid his mother an allowance of £28,000 a month and bought her a luxury multi-million-dollar home, provided hand-outs to his sisters and even funded a friend’s record label for £3 million before the company folded without making any money.
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