Johnny Depp’s £300m running out as he ‘spends £1.6m every MONTH on his 14 homes and 150ft yacht and even paid $3m to blast Hunter S Thompson’s ashes out of a cannon’
The megastar has bought 14 homes since 2000 including a 45-acre French castle, a chain of islands in the Bahamas and a horse farm
ONE Venetian palace, one entire French village, a chain of islands and £23,000 a month on wine — Johnny Depp’s lust for spending would put a gold-hungry pirate to shame.
The Pirates Of The Caribbean actor even splashed out £2.4million to blast the ashes of author Hunter S Thompson out of a cannon, court papers claim.
Now he is accused of bringing himself to the brink of financial ruin with an “ultra-extravagant lifestyle” that far outstripped his eye-watering earnings.
Explosive documents filed in the Los Angeles Supreme Court on Tuesday claim he blows £1.6million a month on living expenses, including £159,000 a month on private planes because he “refused to fly by any other means”.
Then there is the £238,600 a month on wages for his 40-strong staff and another £119,330 a month on a security team.
The scale of the 53-year-old’s allegedly “uncontrolled spending” emerged as part of a bitter court battle with former financial managers.
He accused his former advisers of defrauding him of millions, taking out loans without his approval and hiding his financial problems from him.
Furious at his claim, which follows his recent bitter battle with ex-wife Amber Heard, they have now counter-sued, filing documents that accuse the actor of being “fully responsible for any financial turmoil”.
They add: “He has refused to live within his means, despite . . . repeated warnings about his financial condition.”
The lawsuit claims Depp still owes the management company £3.3million. And the documents present a fascinating insight into the secret life of the big-spender who Forbes magazine claimed earned £38million last year alone.
He was once estimated to be worth £300million.
Filed by his business partners Joel and Robert Mandel, who own The Management Group — known as TMG — they list alleged splurges as well as his astonishing monthly outgoings.
These one-off spends include the £10million-plus he is alleged to have doled out on family and friends over the years.
One example is £3.2million to fund a struggling record label, Unison, run by a childhood friend. Signings included UK indie group Babybird.
He is also a frenzied collector who has spent millions on jewellery and 70 valuable guitars.
This collection of instruments wowed even rocker Keith Richards, who once raved in an interview that some date back to the 15th Century.
The papers claim he also boasts an art collection of more than 200 pieces by great artists such as Andy Warhol, Gustav Klimt, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Amedeo Modigliani.
Related stories
A further £1million has been spent on rare Hollywood collectibles — including a pair of shoes worn by Marilyn Monroe.
That collection is now so vast it is said to be held in 12 storage facilities.
But perhaps the oddest expense is the £2.4million spent on firing the ashes of Hunter S Thompson from a cannon at the writer’s funeral in 2005.
Depp had played Thompson in 1998 film Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, which was based on one of the writer’s books, and the pair became friends.
The court documents say that the cannon had to be made specially for the event.
It was then hoisted on top of a 153ft tower on Thompson’s ranch in Aspen, Colorado, before being used to fire his remains over the land he loved, with accompanying fireworks.
Depp explained at the time that his friend had requested such an ending, saying: “All I’m doing is trying to make sure his last wish comes true.”
Thompson’s widow Anita added: “He loved explosions”.
But Depp’s biggest extravagance, TMG claims, are his properties.
The papers allege he spent almost his entire £67million in pay cheques so far for the Pirates Of The Caribbean films on buying and maintaining a property empire of 14 homes.
Other homes include a £13million estate in Castle Cary, Somerset, a horse ranch in his native Kentucky and a 17th Century, four-storey palazzo on Venice’s Grand Canal.
Then there is the entire 37-acre VILLAGE in the French Riviera.
He once shared this estate with French ex Vanessa Paradis, 44, the mother of his two children.
It featured a grand 19th Century chateau and outbuildings which were renovated at an additional cost of £14million.
It now comes equipped with two swimming pools, a gym, a restaurant and an art studio. There is even a skate park for Depp’s children, Lily-Rose, 17, and 14-year-old Jack.
Guests stay in a converted church where the confessional booth has been turned into a wardrobe.
After he split up with singer Paradis in 2012, he bought her a £3.5million mansion in the Hollywood Hills.
But the real jewel in the crown is what the court papers call his “chain of islands in the Bahamas”, bought for £3million in 2004.
These centre around a main 45-acre island called Little Hall’s Pond Cay which has six beaches — one of which Depp named Brando Beach after his hero Marlon.
It was to this idyllic bolt-hole that he is believed to have fled following his ugly split from wife Amber, 30, last year. She received a divorce settlement of £5.6million.
He once said: “Little Hall’s Pond is my decompression. It’s my way of trying to return to normalcy”.
Depp, who owns a fleet of 42 cars, motorbikes and boats, would travel to the island aboard his £14.3million yacht.
The 156ft vessel, Amphitrite, came with a dining room, a master suite, four guest cabins and staff quarters.
Depp, apparently, has an eye for interior design and carefully chose everything from the yacht’s maroon chenille-covered settees to Honduran mahogany bookshelves.
The boat was sold to Harry Potter author JK Rowling last year for £22million, but she has since put it back up for sale for £17million.
This sale was one of several Depp hopes to make to help him get his finances in order. He is also trying to sell some of his properties.
It is unclear exactly how bad things got for the star but TMG claimed in a separate lawsuit he was forced to borrow “large sums” after he had overspent.
It also claims in the latest papers that he himself admitted he was “in a hole”.
In the court documents it said: “When Depp’s spending outpaced his earnings and he refused to change his lifestyle, he was forced to borrow large sums of money to continue living the lifestyle he chose.
“TMG did everything within its power over the last 17 years to protect Depp from himself and to keep him financially solvent.
“However, ultimately TMG 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.
“For example, in October 2015, Depp sent Mandel a text message stating: ‘I am ready to face the music, in whatever way I must . . . I know there’s a way to dig ourselves out of this hole and I am bound and determined to do it.’
But on those few occasions when Depp said he was ready to change his ways, he never did — and he always went back to his uncontrolled spending.”
Last night Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman described the TMC lawsuit as “cynical” and pointed out that the actor had sued it for fraud, and not for financial distress.
He also told The Sun: “How cataloguing alleged spending by Mr Depp of his own money could somehow absolve the defendants of a large and multi-faceted mosaic of wrongdoing will ultimately be determined by the court.”
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368