“‘So are you here to hear the truth?’ asks Depp as [his chef] Russell brings him a glass of vintage red wine. ‘It’s full of betrayal.’
Rolling Stone made some waves the other day when it published “The Trouble With Johnny Depp,“ an interview with the troubled 55-year-old actor, which has the sleazy subtitle of “Multimillion-dollar lawsuits, a haze of booze and hash, a marriage gone very wrong and a lifestyle he can’t afford — inside the trials of Johnny Depp.”
Written by Stephen Rodrick, a journalist clearly on an agenda-driven mission, the interview must be considered a "hit-piece," despite Depp giving full approval for it. I mean, did any of the actor's publicists seriously converse with him before he agreed to this? Take for example this blurb from Rodrick: "During my London visit, Depp is alternately hilarious, sly and incoherent."
Rodrick visited Depp's home in London, but the way he portrays Depp is as a ruined actor, that heavily drinks red wine, smokes hash, and doesn't seem to realize the predicament that he's in at the moment. I can believe that. Rodrick mentions that “It’s estimated that Depp has made $650 million on films that netted $3.6 billion. Almost all of it is gone.
Their interview “goes on for 72 hours,” claims Roderick. The fascinating snippets of the talk are the details of the three-day, almost sleepless, binge of drugs, and alcohol the writer and Depp indulged themselves in as the actor was pouring his heart out to the RS journalist.
When did the downfall for Depp happen? I would say about the time Depp split with Vanessa Paradis, his partner of 14 years and mother of his two children. That's when Amber Heard came into the picture and their now infamous marriage in 2014 occured. To say this was a nightmare for Johnny, and Amber of course, would be an understament. The divorce battle the two raged was hateful and nasty, with Heard claiming that Depp was verbally and physically abusive to her. This drama was happening as Johnny faced great problems, he was bankrupt. The guy was a big spender, still is; One of the more famous stories has Depp paying $5 million for his good friend's ashes, the late Hunter S. Thompson, to be cannonballed to the sky.
About the relationship with Heard:
"His tabloid-scarred divorce from actress Heard is complete, but not before there were persuasive allegations of physical abuse that Depp vehemently denies. Depp's inner circle had begged him to not wed Heard or to at least obtain a prenup. Depp ignored his loved ones' advice. And there were whispers that Depp's recreational drug and alcohol use were crippling him."
About the legal problems:
“He’s suing The Management Group, run by his longtime business manager, Joel Mandel, and his brother Robert for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud. The suit cites, among other things, that under TMG’s watch Depp’s sister Christi was given $7 million and his assistant, Nathan Holmes, $750,000, without his knowledge, and that he has paid the IRS more than $5.6 million in late fees. (Most of the ire is directed toward Joel, who had day-to-day responsibility for Depp’s account.) There are additional charges of conflict of interest, saying that TMG invested Depp’s money for its own purposes and returned it without profit.”
I posted this on my Facebook:
Depp is basically going through a mental breakdown. It all started in 2012 with the potent mix of marrying Amber Heard and being very stupid with his money. As it stands, his last good movie was 2009's “Public Enemies.”
Ever since then? Want me to read you the list? "The Tourist," "Alice in Wonderland," "Pirates 4," "Dark Shadows," The Lone Ranger," "Transcendence," Mortdecai," "Alice Through the Looking Glass," "Tusk," "Murder on the Orient Express," and "Pirates 5." Yikes.
However, here's the thing, he's still making movies that are raking it in. Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Pirates 4, Pirates 5, and Murder on the Orient Express all made a boatload of money at the box-office. He's also in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts sequel.