Johnny Depp's former agent says he demanded a $20 million handout during his financial woes in 2016, arguing he had made the agency a fortune
- Johnny Depp's former agent said he demanded $20 million from his talent agency in 2016.
- The former agent, Tracey Jacobs, testified in the defamation trial involving Depp and Amber Heard.
Johnny Depp's former agent said in court testimony that during the height of his financial woes the star demanded a $20 million handout from his agency.
"He just expected us to do it," said Tracey Jacobs, a talent manager at United Talent Agency.
Jacobs, who worked with Depp for 30 years, spoke in a prerecorded deposition seen by jurors on Thursday as part of the defamation trial involving Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard.
Jacobs said that in January 2016, Depp came to UTA "in financial desperation."
Joel Mandel, Depp's former money manager, also said in a deposition on Thursday that the actor had made more than $600 million from 1999 to 2016.
Mandel described Depp as spending exorbitantly on things like security, private doctors, and in-house staff. Depp settled a case with Mandel in 2018 after accusing him of mishandling his money.
Asked to confirm whether Depp had asked the agency to get him $20 million, Jacobs said: "Actually, it was 'I want you to give me $20 million.' It was not discussed — the question was not asked as a loan."
Jacobs continued: "He felt that he had made a lot of money for us and that we should just do it because of how much money he had made over the duration of his being at UTA."
You can see some of her testimony here:
Jacobs said the agency initially refused but eventually managed to organize a loan for Depp through Bank of America. "We're not a bank," she said.
"It was very helpful to him," Jacobs added.
Depp fired UTA and Jacobs in October 2016, Variety reported.
By then, Jacobs said, "his star had dimmed" because of frequent lateness and drunkenness on set. A lawsuit against Depp in 2017 described his lifestyle as costing him about $2 million a month, Vanity Fair reported.
Depp is suing Heard in a $50 million defamation case, alleging that her op-ed article about the #MeToo movement published in The Washington Post in 2018 hurt his reputation so badly that he fell out of favor with Hollywood.
Heard, who did not directly mention Depp in the article, filed a $100 million countersuit.