Last year, Johnny Depp fired his long-time business advisors, the Management Group, and now he’s suing the organization for allegedly fleecing him for tens of millions of dollars. The complaint characterizes Depp as “the victim of the gross misconduct of his business managers — The Management Group and attorneys Joel and Robert Mandel — who collected tens of millions of dollars of contingent fees, purportedly based on an oral contract, all at Mr. Depp’s expense.†The document goes on to say that, “As a result of years of gross mismanagement and at times, outright fraud Mr. Depp lost tens of millions of dollars and has been forced to dispose of significant assets to pay for TMG’s self-dealing and gross misconduct.â€
Variety reports that TMG — which provided legal, business, tax, and accounting services to Depp for 17 years — has denied the accusations of “gross misconduct,†and countered by saying that he, in fact, is still indebted to the company for failing to pay back a $5 million loan it provided when the actor was on the brink of defaulting on a bank loan in 2012. “They did everything possible to protect Depp from his irresponsible and profligate spending,†says Michael Kump, an attorney for TMG, who also addressed Depp’s alleged outstanding loan. “Although Depp later changed managers, he never alleged any wrong doing. In October 2016, with Depp still owing $4.2 million, the Mandels started non judicial foreclosure proceedings against certain of Depp’s properties. Depp’s lawsuit, filed on the eve of the sale of those properties, is a transparent attempt to derail the foreclosure by concocting and spreading malicious lies about the Mandels.â€
The complaint was filed Friday in L.A. County Superior Court against TMG and two attorneys within the company. Depp is seeking $25 million in damages that he says stem from TMG failing to pay his taxes on time, thus resulting in penalty fees. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he also alleges that the company loaned out millions of dollars of his personal money without authorization, and that it invested in business ventures that were in direct conflict of interest with the company. This news comes on the same day Depp’s divorce from Amber Heard was finalized.