Johnny Depp reportedly regrets that he ever launched his highly successful acting career because being an actor has caused serious problems and complications for his life.
“I would have told my younger self to get out of this business immediately. I would have said, ‘It’s gonna get weird,’” he lamented, according to Express .
The 53-year-old’s regretful comments come amid legal woes in the past months.
Depp finalized a bitter divorce battle with his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, 31, in January of 2017. The divorce proceedings earned Depp a lot of negative publicity after Heard accused him of domestic abuse. She filed for divorce from Depp in May of 2016, after a marriage that lasted barely 15 months. She claimed in her divorce documents that she was splitting from the Pirates of the Caribbean star due to “irreconcilable differences.”
Heard later gave the details of the alleged domestic abuse in an essay she published on Porter magazine.
Depp is currently locked in an epic legal battle with his former managers, The Management Group (TMG). He sued the company in January, alleging “gross mismanagement” of his affairs, negligence, and fraud. He demanded $25 million in damages.
He said he became aware in March of last year that TMG was mismanaging his wealth, making unauthorized loans, and failing to pay taxes on his behalf when due. He also alleged that TMG caused him financial problems by overpaying “security and other services,” costing him “tens of millions of dollars.”
Johnny Depp: I would tell my younger self to get out of this business https://t.co/FN7JEGw5y3 pic.twitter.com/GbzAzU8Vg6
— Evening Express (@EveningExpress) May 12, 2017
But TMG filed a counter-suit, claiming that Depp suffered from a condition that the company’s attorneys termed “compulsive spending disorder,” and that he needed to be evaluated for mental health issues.
According to TMG, Depp spent $75 million to furnish and maintain more than a dozen luxury homes, multiple islands in the Bahamas, and a horse farm in Kentucky. He allegedly spent $3 million to purchase a cannon which he used to shoot the ashes of his friend, the author Hunter S. Thompson, into the sky over Aspen. He also allegedly spent millions purchasing art work, including pieces by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. TMG alleged that Depp spent $30,000 a month on purchasing wines from around the world.
“[Depp] spent $30,000 per month on expensive wines… paid over $3 million to blast from a specially-made cannon the ashes of author Hunter Thompson over Aspen.”
Inside Johnny Depp’s ‘extravagant and extreme’ lifestyle that costs him $2 million a month https://t.co/mT1uOcB9L8 pic.twitter.com/Qd3zPFD5O9
— Insider Business (@BusinessInsider) May 13, 2017
TMG claimed that Depp was spending up to $2 million a month and that he was owing the company more than $550,000 in fees and about $4 million in loans.
But Depp denied the allegations of lavish and extravagant spending. He said that the claim that his spending was out of control was only part of a “plan to attempt to smear” him. Depp’s attorneys claimed that his investments in real estate and art did not amount to lavish spending because the assets have appreciated considerably. According to Depp’s attorneys, TMG’s statements about Depp’s spending had nothing to do with the claim that TMG was guilty of fraud and “gross mismanagement” of Depp’s finances.
“What do Johnny Depp’s investments in real estate and art, which have appreciated wildly, have to do with a fraud case?” Depp’s lawyer asked, according to People . “For example, the island in the Bahamas that he bought for $5.3 million is now worth many times that… the Basquiat paintings that he bought for a few million were sold for $14 million, and on it goes.”
Depp also allegedly clashed with Disney during the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales . Sources claimed that Depp was causing problems on the set of the upcoming film by drinking heavily and showing up late, keeping others waiting for hours, Business Insider reported.
On one occasion, while filming Pirates of the Caribbean , Depp allegedly insisted on flying back to the U.S. for surgery on his finger, inflating the movie’s budget by millions of dollars.
“It [Depp’s surgery in the U.S.] totally blew the already insane budget for the film way up.”
According to a source, Disney fears that Depp might give more trouble and that the studio might be unable to cope with it.
“Many of the executives at the studio are still very unhappy with all the b******t he pulled during the filming of Pirates 5 and they’ve made it clear they have no interest in continuing to work with him,” the source said, according to Radar Online .
“His box office draw has all but disappeared and he’s a mess.”
Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Johnny Depp allegations to RUIN movie’s box office hopes? https://t.co/qvB4WnCeW3 pic.twitter.com/cspc9A1GqJ
— Daily Express (@Daily_Express) May 11, 2017
“They’re so concerned with another Johnny scandal wrecking Pirates’ opening, that they tried to make him agree to drug testing, which he has refused to do,” the source added.
[Featured Image by Richard Shotwell/AP Images]