Although Johnny Depp was facing financial ruin, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star refused to sell his private jet and fly commercial because it would be “a f**king nightmare of monumental proportions.”
Depp is in an ongoing legal battle with his former financial advising group, The Management Group, after the actor claimed it led him into more than $40 million in debt while managing his money. Shortly after that, TMG launched a countersuit claiming it did everything it could to advise Depp, but that he refused to quit his “ultra-extravagant lifestyle.”
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A 100-page filing from TMG, which includes email correspondence between The Management Group and Depp, detail the actor’s own mindset about his financial troubles and how he went about handling warnings from his advisers.
In one email conversation from 2009 between business manager Joel Mandel and Depp, Mandel urged the actor to “take it easy” on the holiday spending. (RELATED: How In The Hell Did Johnny Depp Blow Through $650 Million)
“I need to be able to sit with you on your return from this trip, and before you leave for France, so that we can talk about where we are financially, what we have borrowed in order to sustain ourselves, what we have had to do to obtain those borrowings, what is now necessary to pay those borrowings back and, finally, to look realistically at income and expenses and to work together on how to make sure that these are back in balance,” Mandel wrote in the email.
Depp then responded the following day with a clear concern about his private jet.
“Regarding the plane situation… I don’t have all that many options at the moment,” Depp wrote. “A commercial flight with paparazzis in tow would be a fucking nightmare of monumental proportions.”
“What else can I do??? You want me to sell some art??? I will. You want me to sell something else??? Sure…what???… Other than that, I got bikes, cars, property, books, paintings, and some semblance of a soul left, where would you like me to start???” Depp pleaded.
According to The Management Group, Depp earned $650 million while under its representation. He did end up selling some of his properties and other belongings to try and rebound from his financial ruin, but at that point it was already too late for TMG to save him.