Johnny Depp is in such financial turmoil that he fired his longtime Hollywood agent, saying he couldn’t pay her any more commissions on his movie deals, and made a deal with a rival agency.
Last October, Depp walked away from UTA’s Tracey Jacobs, the famed agent who in 1988 took him from TV’s “21 Jump Street” and made him into an international movie superstar.
A Hollywood source said, “Depp told Jacobs and UTA he no longer wanted to pay their commissions. But they pushed back.” So the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star jumped ship to CAA, which gave him a sweeter deal.
About CAA’s lower commissions, another source said, “They don’t do blue-light specials.” But as far as Depp’s finances, the agency was “sensitive to it when he signed.” On Depp leaving UTA, the insider added, “He was with Tracey Jacobs for a gajillion years — their relationship had run its course. He was looking for a change.” UTA declined to comment.
A CAA spokesperson commented, “CAA did not reduce commissions, nor was the subject even broached. To state otherwise is categorically false.”
Last week, it was revealed in documents filed by Depp’s business managers that he spends an astonishing $2 million a month. Among the examples of his excess were $75 million spent on 14 homes, $18 million on a luxury yacht, and $30,000 per month on wine. Plus, he blew $3 million on shooting the ashes of his hero, author Hunter S. Thompson, out of a cannon over Aspen, Colo. The claims were made in a countersuit filed by The Management Group, who acted as Depp’s legal, tax and accounting advisers from 1999 until he fired them last year. Depp sued TMG in January, claiming they collected $28 million in fees he never agreed to and tried to foreclose on his home.
TMG insists they handled his money responsibly, warned him he was overspending, and “Depp, and Depp alone, is fully responsible for any financial turmoil he finds himself in today,” said TMG’s attorney Michael Kump in the cross-complaint.
On Thursday, Depp’s attorney Adam Waldman said in a statement that TMG had “chosen to employ a reprehensible ‘blame the victim’ strategy in a transparent attempt to . . . deflect away from their malfeasance.”
Depp’s rep said there is no truth to this.