A week ago, Amber Heard announced that she would be donating the entirety of her $7 million divorce settlement to charity. As in, Johnny Depp owed Amber $7 million and SHE was going to split the money between the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and several domestic violence shelters/charities, all of her choosing. The announcement made Amber look like a saint to most people, and it just seemed like the final screw-you to Johnny Depp. As in, Amber was telling him, “I didn’t even need your money, I’m not a golddigger, I’m free and now everyone knows the truth about you.” So of course Depp had to react. And his reaction is… not great.
Johnny Depp is heaping praise on Amber Heard for donating her $7 million divorce settlement to charity … and he’s so moved he’s sending the checks directly to the 2 organizations she personally picked. Amber announced after striking her settlement she would donate every penny to the ACLU and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles — $3.5 mil each. We checked with Children’s Hospital Tuesday and they had not yet received any of the money.
We’ve learned both the ACLU and Children’s Hospital got checks Wednesday from Johnny, on behalf of Amber. The checks are the first in a number of installments that will eventually total $7 million.
A rep for Johnny tells TMZ, “Following Amber Heard’s announcement that her divorce settlement was to be divided equally and gifted to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union, two exceptionally deserving and important charities, Johnny Depp has sent the first of multiple installments of those monies to each charity in the name of Amber Heard, which when completed will honor the full amount of Ms. Heard’s pledge.”
The rep adds, “Ms. Heard’s generosity in giving to these wonderful causes is deeply respected.” Everybody happy now?
In the statement given to People Magazine, Amber didn’t name the domestic-violence charities she would donate to, but in other media outlets, apparently Amber did name the ACLU as one of the organizations to which she would donate. The ACLU isn’t a specific domestic-violence charity, although they do a lot of work on women’s issues, and I tended to believe that Amber would spread out the money among several different charities, which was her choice to make. Beyond that, the donations were supposed to be from Amber. As in, Depp was supposed to pay Amber $7 million, and she could donate that money to whichever organization SHE chose. Johnny Depp is once again taking away Amber’s power and it’s so flagrantly bitchy and narcissistic on Depp’s part, it’s almost sad. I also suspect that this isn’t even close to legal – their settlement agreement surely included language about how Depp was supposed to pay Amber directly, not donate “in her name.”
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Appalling; it’s just so classless. He’s just proving everyone right.
I dunno, this HAS to be part of the deal they negotiated, right? I mean, I’m sure they signed papers and all, specifically stating how and when the settlement money will be paid?? I’m pretty sure he can’t just decide on his own where to send it to, that would indeed be illegal (as Kaiser points out) or at least in conflict with the divorce settlement ruling.
Agreed. It’s their deal.
And maybe she wanted it this way? Maybe her way of sticking it to HIM was that he had to personally sign checks to DV-related charities after what he did. Hope it stings. Get help, J.
What could she possibly do about it? She cant report him or sue him because the resulting negative publicity would consume the giving in the first place. She would be accused of naking the announcement for purely PR reasons and also that she never intended on doing it. Johnny hired one of the best crisis teams in the business, this is clearly their doing. He is still a controlling asshole from the divorce graveyard. It’s basically him fighting to have the last word. F*ck him.
Ok but even if it was an agreed-upon deal (which I suspect it is) it doesn’t change the fact that he took it upon himself to be the one to donate. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was his way of ensuring that the money went to the charities and she didn’t get a red cent. I can almost picture Depp and his lawyers saying “ok the money can go to charities but Depp gets to donate directly so we can be sure that it goes where it’s supposed to and not to you” just as one last FU to Amber. Because you know, she’s “evil” and “untrustworthy” or whatever. Eye roll.
@Naya ‘She cant report him or sue him because the resulting negative publicity would consume the giving in the first place’- I’m not sure exactly how the American legal system works, but I don’t really see how AH’s lawyers pointing out to Johnny’s lawyers that this was not the deal they settled would result in negative publicity for HER. I mean, maybe I’m naive, but it’s pretty straightforward, no? JD revokes the payment, sends it to AH, she makes the donation, he looks like a fool- end of story..?
This is still abuser control 101. I bet he forced her not to give to a charity with DV in their title name like she said in her last press release. Depp please find Nate Parker and go off into your island together. Forever.
Cherry, I don’t know that he would be able revoke the payment once made. But it would be hilarious if the order states he *does* have to make the payments to her, he gets held in contempt for violating the court order, AND he has to pay her the funds in addition to the funds he already donated. Twice as much money for the charities she chooses. 🙂
I just hope he lives long enough to finish paying the installments to the charities. Dude looks like he has one foot in the grave.
Isn’t this a tax thing though? If she actually received the money, she has to pay tax on it even if she donated it. However, if Depp sent it direct, then it’s exempt because he has already paid the tax on it. Maybe this was arranged during the divorce?
i only see this as her sticking it to
Him with one final FU. We are reading that Johnny Depp, “hypothetical” abuser of Amber, is donating the $7 million on her behalf because he maybe kind of sort of possibly actually did those things to her.
I really choose to believe this is the only way this went down. One final I can’t make you admit it but I can make your name tied to a massive donation. Everyone will remember why, and know it wasn’t goodwill.
I think it’s kind of brilliant, so let’s all hope it’s the case. It falls in line with the way she’s played her hand so far.
He isn’t just doing this to get the last word with Amber. He’s also going to get substantial tax right-offs for these charities that may be in her name, but are coming directly from his accounts, so technically/legally HIS donations. Yeah, you aint slick Johnny. I got your number.
If they agreed to it this way, fine. But if it was supposed to go to her and be at her discretion what happens, what goes where, etc, then that is very wrong. It would be great (and great for the charities) if the courts were like, um, nope, you still owe her $7 mil.
Bingo haven’t heard his lawyers say or change anything yet so it must be in the agreement. Not sure how people think they knows the details of the agreement, and yes if it was written that way it is still a crap move.
Did anyone check out Forbes highest paid actors this past year. He was number five making $48 million in movie salary alone the past year, and they were married the whole time. This doesn’t include any sponsorship or other money he made. Without a prenup in CA. even if this is the only money he made she is entitled to half. Which she didn’t get. If she wanted to punish him for the abuse she should have gone to criminal court or at least tried harder to get them to prosecute, and if she wanted to make him pay to charity she should have been quiet and squeezed him for every penny. Her lawyers were terrible, and I don’t understand the above spin. I feel for her. This did very little, but at least charities got some money. The other good news, if you read Forbes’ list they think he will make less next year because of this, but who knows.
Turns out this wasn’t part of the deal. And she is calling him out for it. I knew this was total crisis management and gaslighting on his part. God, that man is EVIL.
Exactly, it’s his money in the end and it went to the chosen place so what’s the issue? I usually agree with most thoughts and feelings here on the whole sorry subject (more or less) but this site had become completely Amber sychophantic to say the least, damning anyone and everyone who has had anything but an ass licking perfect response to articles posted, so let’s keep it a little more sane please people I thought this was a cool place to exchange different opinions and thoughts but not so much lately.
@Shelleycon Nice try. Why wouldn’t I be pro-AH? Aside from that, it is my unforced opinion that this was another a-hole move from Depp and his team, trying to control things that were supposed to go down on her terms, pissing her off one more time, as well as having the transactions work out in his favor since they’re tax-deductible. The money should just have gone through her because in the end it’s not his money anymore. They settled, and it became hers. It’s obvious that she alone should’ve made the donation. Knowingly taking this away from her is klassy with a k, yet JD went for it because apparently he wants to hurt and annoy her one more time. And if you don’t understand this, there’s still the question: what’s it to him anyway? In a strict sense, giving the money to her through one transaction would’ve been even simpler than initiating multiple transactions. So there’s absolutely no good reason for doing it this way. I hope he gets help because he seems pretty miserable.
I don’t see what the big deal is. He is giving the money to the charities of her choice. They probably arranged this so that she wouldn’t have to pay back all of those taxes as a recent Forbes article pointed out. It’s not as if he decided to send the money to an entirely different charity. I doubt he’d do anything stupid to screw up the settlement.
Right?
If they arranged that, then there’s no issue, at all. She probably didn’t want to deal with him AT ALL.
But that’s an IF.
Part of me genuinely wonders if it was agreed upon, or if he’s just doing it to see if she’ll bite back and he can say “Oh well why is she angry, she said she was donating it. She must just want the money for herself”
I could imagine a tax advantage– but could also imagine a tax disadvantage. Depp had better not be writing this off on his taxes. It is HER money he sent, not his own.
There was no reason for him to make a big “look how great I am” announcement. He could have made the payments quietly. He’s trying to rehab his reputation, but he still looks like a narcissistic jerk IMO.
@Erinn-Yup. I wouldn’t put anything past this guy. We know for sure that he plays dirty. He’s vengeful and spiteful and bitter and nothing he does in relation to his divorce from Heard is done out of kindness.
@MissJupitero – SUCH A GOOD POINT! Didn’t think of it that way.
@MissJupitero — my first thought EXACTLY. What tax advantage does it have for him? While I assume the $7 mil would have been taxable income for her, after donating it, she might have been able to use those tax credits in future years, given her earnings don’t seem to break $500 thou a year (and assuming charitable tax benefits can be carried forward a few years, I don’t really know, I’m Canadian and it’s mostly tuition credits I carry forward! ha).
I mean you said it yourself. “He” is giving that money to charity. That’s how this statement is worded and it’s not a small issue. Technically, however that money was supposed to reach the charities – and it’s possible that this is what was agreed upon – it’s not Johnny Depp who’s giving money to charity. It’s Amber Heard. It’s her money now.
I can’t even commet on the “he’s so moved”. He’s … something. Moved is probably not it. If he were so moved, he’d match her donations. It’s peanuts to him. The entire thing reads like he’s patting her on the head, the patronizing douchebag.
Her statement read, “The donation will be divided equally between the ACLU, with a particular focus to stop violence against women,…”
He has removed her ability to focus the ACLU donation on violence against women.
Also, from a tax stand point this is odd. If the check is in his name, I don’t see how the IRS would give her the credit.
‘he is proving everyone right’.
I agree. This tactic is also out of ‘how to be a perfect abuser 101’.
Even if it’s only gossip , it is obvious that it’s him who want to be at the centre of the narrative. God forbid Amber gets praised for donating, he had to clear that up stating that he was the ONE giving the money (to her and then to charities or directly to charities doesn’t matter) and it wasn’t hers.
He has to show the power/money imbalance to the world, it’s an abusive and manipulative way of redirecting the whole story towards him. I had so strong flashbacks of my own situation (with my father) that I had to stop to read the article.
I don’t know the legal entanglements of the issue, I hope someone more knowledgeable will chime in.
I got so deeply disgusted by Depp that I swore I won’t see anything with him in it anymore.
POS like Charlie Sheen, period.
ITA
You are so right. It’s scary because the people who have never had to deal with abusers, that particular sort of scum in people clothing, they often don’t see or just outright dismiss the patterns.
Agreed. I truly didn’t think I could loathe JD more than I already did, but now I’ve reached new heights of disgust for him.
F this controlling bastard.
Okay everyone has lost it if they do not think lawyers who earn thousand of dollars an hour did not specify how the money was to be paid to the charities or Amber. Seriously, this isn’t Johnny thinking this up now on how to screw her. A. he isn’t that smart, and B. every detail of a multi-million dollar settlement is negotiated on. Now his lawyers and him may have set this up during the settlement, and it would still be a classless move, but trust me she knew.
@noway
slow your roll there. no one stated that it wasn’t agreed on in this thread. And even if it was agreed on by lawyers doesn’t negate the controlling assholery.
You can sign a lot of legal papers, it doesn’t mean its right or it doesn’t stink of power struggles and control. She can still know of the deal, it can still be the best or only way she is legally able to proceed, it doesn’t mean it is OK.
This has completely been a battle of optics, not justice and that doesn’t stop at an agreement to settle.
+1,000 Straight from the How To Be Abusive for Dummies playbook. Rule#34567766: Abuser must do everything in their power to have the upper hand and final word, especially in the court of public opinion, they will usually very successfully turn others against the victim and use subtle tactics of intimidation toward the victim at the same time, including but not limited to-twisting the victim’s own words and motivations and claiming them as their own, taking the victim’s stance so that they appear victimized and honorable, gaslighting, taking control of the smallest of circumstances even when victim has expressed desire to walk away, etc. All of this is by intricate and deliberate design to completely undermine their victim’s sense of self, power, spiritual groundedness, sanity, and self esteem. They walk away looking dandy, the victim continues to suffer the psychological repercussions for years and carries the scars for life. Psychological abuse is so powerful and so devastating… It just makes me sad that people who have never been at the hands of an abuser can’t understand or aren’t willing to. I have seen very smart, well adjusted people, just be totally convinced that what a pathologically lying, abusive, shallow, manipulator says is the honest truth and be totally sure that they’re this nice hearted, worthy, suffering, human being. It’s so gross. And so sexist. Most of the abusive guys I know are by all appearances, great guys. But spend a month with them in any intimate capacity and…
It was her money. Not his. What a creepy, controlling, abusive, lurch.
I doubt it was their deal. Remember these are people with huge salaries and a tax deduction of $7M is pretty significant. I think Depp is making a grab of it so Amber didn’t get the deduction. Personally, I’m so tired of celebs “Announcing” to the world how generous they are. If you want to give, GIVE & STFU about it. I doubt this was in their agreement only because if it was, unless she had the worst attorney on the planet, there would have been a confidentiality clause that it was her gift and not his.
All that said, anyone can announce they will give (hello, Donald!) and the not actually do it. But whether Amber was actually going to or not is entirely her prerogative and Depp cutting her off at the knees like that is pretty slimy. Then again, pretty normal for him apparently.
Maybe so she won’t have to pay taxes
@amunky I agree. I don’t believe anything this druggie alcoholic loser has to say
Maybe pigs will fly. Johnny tried to blind side Amber while claiming back taxes on the donation but he will just end up paying $14million now.
Johnny Depp cannot seem to stop being an abusive controlling jerk. Because of Amber Heard, the green curtain has been pulled back and we can see that the “great Oz” is really just a small man. JD looks like he is on death’s door and even his eyes have that “dead look”. He associates with creepy people and probably engages in “unhealthy lifestyle choices”. It appears he is not interested in getting healthy and turning his life around; however, Depp does seem interested in harrassing Amber. Heard is brave and strong in how she refused to be Depp’s compliant victim. Johnny has good taste in women but he should have known not to mess with Texas.
Why is he making payments? Why not just pay the whole thing and be done with it?
Passive aggressive and hoping they forget?
I dunno. Part of me likes the idea of him having to sign. Kind of rubs his face in it.
But the rest of me thinks he’s a raging control freak who thinks he can get away with anything. And given how Hollywood has protected him, he’s not far wrong.
I have suspected all along that Depp is broke. He seemed more worried about his finances becoming public than the receipts on domestic violence. He’s paying in installments because he doesn’t have $7 million in cash. I assume his fortune went up his nose.
I think that there is tea here
The sale of paintings just post their split etc…I think he is in a far worst state financially than we know…no where close to 200 mill
It does seem weird doesn’t it? He’s been selling things off left and right. Big expensive things. He’s spending money on something and on what he doesn’t want people to know. Maybe it’s shady payoffs. Maybe it’s drugs. Maybe it’s both.
I suppose if he ever lets his precious island go, we’ll know for sure.
Forbes just listed him as fifth highest paid actor in the past year earning $48 million from movie salary alone. I want to be that broke.
I mean, I think this guy can spend 48 million dollars a year on scarves and booze. Seriously.
@noway
That’s a crazy amount of money for sure. BUT he’s used to a certain standard of living, has several properties that need upkeep and needs to pay people like lawyers, PR agency etc. while also probably planning on leaving a large sum to his children when he dies. So half of those 48 mill probably went to cover all those costs and if you’ve been living in luxury for the past few decades, even considering going frugal now is not an option. He surely realises his career has been going downhill for the past few years and he won’t be making this kind of money for much longer (he has trouble staying professional due to his drug and alcohol issues, he looks worse and worse every time we see him, and now he’s also lost a lof of fans. All those favours from friends will dry up at some point). So… yeah it’s a lot of money but he’s also spending a lot, and it needs to last him for long.
wealthy people usually dont have that much money on their bank accounts. his wealth will be in investments, stocks, property etc.
He has spent the last three months selling off his assets, he is liquid. And if he isnt, then it means he has been doing a lot of spending. His lawyers are big fish, they would not demand instacash, just proof of ability and a payment plan. It confirms one of two theories, either he paid off a bunch of people with that cash (potential witnesses) or there was an additional under the table settlement with Amber.
I never thought about Amber getting an under the table settlement, in addition to the 7 mil. What if Amber had some seriously heavy duty receipts that will never see the light of day, that were viewed by Depp and his people privately, outside of court and never entered into court records or leaked to the press?
It doesn’t make sense for Amber to donate every penny of $7 million. Is Amber really worth that much that as a woman with an uncertain future, she can afford to take zero money? Depp selling off assets is also odd. Was he expecting to have to pay Amber quite a bit of money, more than the relatively smaller amount she was asking for?
What if Amber got much more money, and the added perk of forcing Depp to donate to organizations to help battered women? What if Amber and her team ruled the day, and this was the arrangement she demanded, and Depp had no choice because what he cares about more than anything, is his image? Depp couldn’t tolerate even more disturbing things about himself being exposed. It’s a nice thought to think Amber may have had a victory here. I’m sure part of the deal is that we will never know.
Many charities, even the biggest organizations, like large donations to be spread out.
No they don’t. Commitments aren’t the same as cash. They want the money in the bank.
He is awful and I will never again watch anything he is a part of.
I totally agree!
They ran one of the Pirates on the
TV here a couple of evenings ago,
and all I could think of the few seconds
I saw was him slicing his finger beating
Amber shouting and screaming.
This just proves everything she has said.
Same here. Our family loves the Pirates movies but I will not watch them anymore nor support the future ones (nor anything else he does). He repulses me so much now.
At this point, I think he just wants to piss her off to get back at her.
I think he wants everyone to think she cannot be trusted to make the donations because, you know, harlot woman and all. He has to have the last word, I hope his career sinks.
This! Her donating to charity altered some people’s perception of her and he couldn’t have that. After trying so hard to vilify her from day one, why did I think he was finally going to play nice? SMH.
YES! Exactly. I was trying to articulate that upthread but you said it far better than I did.
I agree. I will never watch any of his movies again.
So he is still trying to control her then, great, good for you Jerkface Depp. He has learned zero and obviously thinks there is nothing wrong with his behaviour.
I was hoping he would match her donation and give another $7M to charities. Nope. Instead he is continuing to control and demean her.
@Tris I was hoping he would do that too. A tax write off and good pr to boot.
This divorce is going to leave a bitter taste in both their mouths for years to come.
When I read the headline this is what I thought. That he had really considered what he had done, had matched her donation and was going to get some help for his addictions and the abuse and harm that he has caused to others.
I work with survivors of dva. I should know better
Me too. How naive I was. This is a ridiculous attempt to still have control. Makes him look like scum. Well, further look like scum.
Ohh Mr. Depp loves money way too much to do it. He’d sooner eat it. But he’ll gladly show up at a children’s hospital dressed as Jack Sparrow as long as the pictures end up on the web so that’s something too right??
This might actually be a part of the deal. Maybe she was never given any money in the settlement, maybe it was just about saving them from more public shame (no shame for the victim, but it can’t be funny to have a difficult time in your life on the covers).
We’ll see how her legal team handles this. If they don’t object then we know everything was a scam. I don’t think there actual settlement has been released to the media. So who knows.
I smell a rat, but you don’t always have to enter cat-mode.
I don’t think either of them wants us in their relationship (yet here I am writing about it. sigh)
Ugh. I can just imagine Johnny and Doug Stanhope high-fiving each other over this one.
That tattoo on his knuckles is, sadly, most appropriate. For him.
ha i forgot about that when I called him scum above!
He is so petty. Good luck to his next girlfriend, hope not a punch pillow
OMG what a new low for JD.
Now he’s trying to make this donation about himself. As in: “Attention people, it’s me who is donating money, not her”. YES, too bad it’s HER money. The fact that you are donating the money directly instead of transferring it on Amber’s account so that she can transfer it again is just a technicality. And if you care so much about the two organisations, why just limiting the sum to 7 million? He could have sent 7 million on behalf of Amber plus a few more “out of his own pocket”.
What a total asshole.
I think it’s more the case of ‘ since it’s my money i want to be sure it will be donated because I don’t trust you, I think after all you might want to keep it but I don’t want you to have any of my money’
This. But also he is trying to steal her moment. Its no longer Amber donated but rather Johnny donated. The messaging is that he also cares about ending domestic violence (lolest)
He stole her thunder, at the very least.
Your interpretation is possible, but I don’t think it was a matter of trust.
He just wanted to piss her off and have the last word on the matter. Plus, he attempted to (slightly) rehabilitate his image.
I don’t know what fool can still believe his act though.
His public image speaks itself for his private (terrible) persona.
WTF. This would negate her tax break, too. This can’t possibly be legal!
Ditto. WTF. This move would have to be written into the settlement. Otherwise, he’s just giving $7M away, plus the $7M he owes her.
I was wondering about this too. Is this some sort of tax evasion play?
Someone upthread said she’d have to pay taxes on the settlement if she got it and therefore would only be able to donate a part of it though and not the full sum, not sure if that’s true?
Hmmmm I assume this was cleared by their lawyers first. I can’t see this happening without both teams involvement. But yes Amber did name the ACLU because they posted a thank you right after the announcement.
Now if this wasn’t cleared by he lawyers then yes screw you Depp.
I would hope it was cleared by both lawyers. Otherwise I would think he would still have to pay HER the $7 million even though he already paid the charities.
You would hope, but this is an movie star and addict you’re talking about, so it’s anybody’s guess.
Yeah, that’s my question… is this even legal without her approval? Maybe this actually is the deal they worked out.
D*ckhead.
It can’t possibly be legal. I guess he thought that she wasn’t really going to donate the money? Whatever, the money was not his to give away and I’m almost 100% sure any court will tell you so. I bet he will have to pay again.
It isn’t. Unless they both agreed to it and ironed out the details with their lawyers. Otherwise, it’s either a bullshit gossip item or illegal, which would not surprise me in the least.
Well, this is coming from TMZ, after all. Harvey and his team can go suck some rotten eggs and then f-ck off. TMZ has made every effort to smear Amber’s reputation and discredit her, so this report is more of the same BS from them.
When Amber’s generous donation was first reported, I don’t even remember TMZ mentioning it. If they did, they surely minimized the story and gave more coverage to the latest Kardashian stunt.
Watch enough episodes of Harvey’s show and the douchey-fratboy atmosphere is unmistakable. Harvey is openly gay. Does he idolize masculinity so much that femininity is trivialized? When his male staff objectify women’s bodies (which they do regularly) it’s interesting to see the expressions on the faces of the female staff: many of them look annoyed or weary or stoic.
My father was verbally and physically absusive and once my mother was able to rescue us from him, and once the restraining order was in place and once the divorce was final, he’d still find ways to be just the worst–this story in particular reminds me of how he’d send alimony checks to my mom with her maiden name or child support checks for us with her last name as our last name instead of his–just one more way these sociopaths try to stay in control.
One doesn’t wish to criticise but if it’s from his account, is that a tax thing?
Correct me if Im wrong but a good team of lawyers could get Johnny to pay the $7million AGAIN, this time to Amber (and she could or could not donale or do whatever she wants), as the court stablished. And the Johnny would have -14 million in the bank.
No,7 million was the settlement. It was Heard’s money that she chose to donate it. She can’t get another 7 million.
But if he chose to pay it to someone else, even if it was someone she was going to give the money to anyway, without her approval, then he never actually paid her the settlement.
I doubt Depp would do this without consulting a lawyer and an accountant.
It had to be an agreement between the two of them, right? Otherwise it just seems so unnecessarily risky.
The court settlement stablished that Mr Depp should pay $7mill to Ms. Heard. He technically didn’t, he sent the money to the charities that were described by media articles it would be benefited by Ms. Heard. Technically Depp still hasn’t not fulfilled what the court literally stablished.
Whoa! And just from the monetary practical side, doesn’t HE then get all the tax benefits associated with charitable donations? I’m not a lawyer, but can he even bypass the payment to her and do this? Putting Amber and Johnny aside, I just watched a friend (a man) go through a HORRIBLE divorce (he was actually the innocent party), and in witnessing just what hell my friend went through, this is kinda funny to me. I DO love a good revenge and GOTCHA story – but given the allegations in this particular divorce, yeah, well. All I’ve got to say is “Touche Johnny”. Let the legal wrangling begin …
There was a long article in Forbes suggesting that Heard could be liable to over a million dollars in tax if she donated the $7M. They laid out a range of scenarios , which depended on the unknown details of the settlement. So this could cost her money or save her money, but he could certainly use the headline to show he was trying to be helpful. I suspect she could insist he halts the payments to the charities and pay her directly, but that could sound petty and give ammunition to her critics e.g. (i) fighting Depp is more important to her than getting the money to the charities as soon as possible (ii) she wants the tax rebate – so it is about money after all (iii) she doesn’t want him to get a tax rebate – vindictive (iv) she never really intended to donate all the money and this is messing with her plans – even when she does pay it herself it can then be dismissed as damage control. So it could get messy and I have no idea what she should do now. Perhaps just move on.
could be for tax reasons, hers and his or his or hers. if he pays directly to her she’d owe tax, even if she then donates. just a guess.
as for not paying all at once, do people honestly believe richies really let millions lay in the bank earning paltry interest or not realize the money is usually invested (also often tax reasons, earned interest or whatever it’s called) and you lose money when you divest.
because taxes.
FYI long time depp hater, fwiw.
A couple of regular posters who’re familiar with law stated in a previous thread that alimony money is tax free. Someone, feel correct me if I got that wrong.
I received money from my ex’s retirement fund and paid no taxes on it. So agree with you that the money he gives her is tax free.
I would think if they have paid taxes on it once, then it is tax free. So if it was taxed as income before being deposited, it wouldn’t be taxed again as income as part of a settlement. Granted that’s Canadian law, international taxes are a different beast I think and I am not a CPA, so grains and grains of salt.
I’m surprised though SWAK, I thought all money coming out of retirement plans was taxed? Since it is tax free when you deposit, then you pay the lower rate when you take it out after retirement. So maybe I’m completely off base.
ok, i thought she received a settlement, not alimony. idk about state tax but IRS taxes alimony (unless special trust) received and the person paying gets the deduction.
honestly idk anything except our tax code is very complicated and people with money hire experts to deal with taxes.
my guess was it involved taxes.
SWAK, if he pulled out early he was heavily penalized, not you. i had to liquidate mine early and am still paying tax on it. there was no way to avoid it, even with a professional.
☹️
the tax man is not understanding of life’s problems.
but we will definitely know he was being an extra creep if she complains it wasn’t part of their agreement -as she rightly should.
@poppy, thanks, as my ex may have been penalized (I don’t know), I just know I didn’t have to pay any taxes on it but I did have to set up a retirement fund with it and if I touched it was penalized for early withdrawal. Things may have changed as that was 10 years ago.
aaah theres the rub SWAK.
You’ll probably get taxed on it after withdrawal I guess?
Transfer from one registered savings plan to another wouldn’t cause taxation, but withdrawing once retired would.
No, at least in California, alimony money is not automatically tax free…
Passive aggressive d*ck. People now will say HE donated the money, not Amber. What a scumbag he is and the general public won’t see right through this.
I hope, this isn’t legal because it is Amber’s money and she should decide which charity gets how much money. It would be such a pleasure if Depp would be ordered to pay the money to HER. That would mean he has to pay another 7 Million. Unless he wants to ask the charities to give the donations back.
She’ll always be the woman who gave $7million to charity. It doesn’t matter how people try to spin that, she fought her case and gave away $7million. That’s what people will remember. It’s an extraordinary thing.
This stunt queen is just digging his own gtrave and alienating every last female movie goer.
He looks like if the Pillsbury doughboy started doing meth. I would love it if one of those organizations (or all of them) publicly spoke out against him and tore the check or something…
By donating it himself he can use it as a tax write off, right? He’s a disgusting pig.
he is a pos
I really want the judge to say “Nope, not how you do this, now you still have to pay her the 7 million, but nice of you to make a donation too.” But I know that’s unlikely to happen. Especially since it seems like Amber just wants to be done with this all. I doubt she’s going to try to take it back to court. But if I was on the fence about Johnny before (I wasn’t) this makes it so clear that he is a controlling *sshole. It’s disgusting.
There’s no way this isn’t the agreement they both came up with in the divorce settlement.
Absolutely this is part of their settlement. The highest earners in California pay a 53% marginal rate for income tax (state plus federal). This allows Depp to reduce his tax bill by up to $3.5 million.
Edit: Whoops. Amber didn’t approve and now wants him to donate $14 million to account for the tax deduction. Wow.
Not a lawyer so not jumping to conclusions about him paying out millions to charities. Unless Amber gives a statement otherwise, I’m going to turn the page on this one.
I agree. I have no idea what they agreed on so…The most important part is those two charities are getting money.
Yeah, I mean, after the seething is over, that is my calmer reaction, but it rests alongside the conviction that even if this financial arrangement is part of the settlement, the fact that it has either leaked or (if untrue) been falsely planted in the gossip press with the intention to cast suspicion on Amber’s credibility still has me shaking my head.
Passive aggressive creep.
I doubt he would do this if an alternative arrangement had been made. So I’d guess Amber must have agreed to it, in which case, it again speaks really well of her, that her primary goal was for her settlement to benefit the two charities, and she put that over any personal need to be ‘seen’ to be donating it herself. That’s a very gracious thing to do.
And as long as the charities’ acknowledgment of the donations clearly credits Amber, then that’s all that really counts.
But yeah, he really is a controlling pos.
Good point!
Ladies, I give you “The Sexiest Man In The World”
First Gibson now him. That award is a poisoned chalice.
Barnaby Joyce should force him to apologize.
I think it was probably part of their agreement that he’d donate the settlement money directly to a charity, but she probably didn’t expect him to make this announcement. He could have just quietly donated the money on her behalf. Making the announcement is a bit petty, like he’s trying to say “I’m the one who’s really donating the money, not Amber.”
Or he’s just a cheapskate who wants to claim the donations as tax deductions, which means he’s weaseled out of giving her the fulll seven million.
Exactly. It seems very self-serving and obnoxious. And there’s a whiff of “We don’t actually trust her to donate the money herself, do we?”
@Goldie – yes, that’s the very self-serving bit, him announcing it. As you say, no one needs to know the details of the settlement/donation ‘journey’.
I’m really curious about the tax implications of all this.
Could there be tax implications for her. Don’t know the tax rules on alimony
Alimony is taxed as income to the party receiving it and deducted as an expense by the party paying. So if Amber receives alimony payments from him she’ll have to pay taxes on it.
That’s what I was thinking….perhaps, if he gave Amber the $7 million, she would have taxes taken out of it, and then couldn’t have donated the entire amount. If Johnny pays, no taxes will be taken out, and the charities will receive the entire $7 million….I’m just speculating….
Alimony is taxed but the $7 million was a lump sum settlement and would not be taxed. They paid income taxes on already during their marriage.
Alimony is taxable. She wasn’t getting alimony. She was getting a settlement from a division of property. Settlements like that are not taxable because it was already technically hers, as part of the marital assets. It was simply transferred to her legally.
Thanks paranormalgirl.
He’d better have got her permission in writing, otherwise he might be paying twice over.
I’m guessing this was agreed to by the lawyers.
JFC what a Disgusting Clammy Sh*tbag this guy is… just when you think he’s hitting the bottom, the bottom falls out
I recently watched the series Rome on HBO, like 15 years late I know, but I keep thinking of the scene where Cleopatra is dying from the snake bite (spoiler!!!) and she stands up seething at Octavian and hisses “You.have.a rotten. soul.”
That’s how I feel about Johnny Depp.
Glad she is free….he is trully terrible. He is an abuser and still trying to control the narrative
I think there MUST have been an agreement that he would give on her behalf, because there is no way he could give to charity without her agreement. It’s totally illegal. Maybe there was a private financial settlement in addition to this, maybe not. But there is no way he could do this legally without her consent. I think it was a PR stunt that they both agreed to. It looks like people think it backlashed against JD.
He looks ROUGH. Yikes.
If it was their agreement,there is no issue.
If it is Depp’s choice,he again tries to control her .
“Multiple installments?” This man is worth hundreds of millions of dollar. He can’t just write 2 checks in the amount of $3.5 million?
She did specify which charities she was donating to Ambers statement- “The donation will be divided equally between the ACLU, with a particular focus to stop violence against women, and the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, where I have worked as a volunteer for the past 10 years.” Also both these specific charities have charitable remainder trust and charitable annuity programs. This explains why even though Johnny could have afforded to pay 3.5 million each right away, he’s making payments in Ambers name.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this is what they agreed to, We can speculate the reasons why (I’m guessing it’s largely an issue of tax treatment) but this is what they agreed to…..I can’t believe it’s some kind of “eff u” on his part. That is too risky, can backfire, and ultimately cost him 2 x over. No way his advisors would let that happen.
Nope–it was all part of their agreement. She’s moved on and so should we.
I got some heat before for suggesting that someone was benefiting from tax write-offs here. If you think these settlements are made without the money people in the room to structure them to create benefit for everyone, not more tax liability, you’re naive.
it doesn’t make her less charitable.
Seems wrong to me. It’s supposed to be her money to donate to charity, not his. It’s his final pathetic power play. And he gets the tax deduction.
He’s donating in her name. Who cares who signs the cheque. At least some good will come out of a very tacky divorce.
It was indeed vert tacky of scarfmonster to abuse and terrorize his wife that way.
Yes! I think Celebitchy is just reaching here. They had to agree to this first.
I don’t believe we’ve heard the end of this. I’m sure Ambers attorneys have Wasser on the phone as we speak. Based on Ambers “no hard feelings” statement after the settlement, which was later retracted because her blundering attorneys violated the NDA, I think she just wants to move on. I also think that he will still pay her $7mil. This is a PR stunt and a knife twist to put the magnifying glass on Anbers donation. His donation will stand but he still owes her $7mil
I spoke too soon. Tmz updated to say that Amber DIDN’T agree to this! And now wants him to pay 14 mil to charity so he can’t get the tax right off with 7 mil.
Love this, if it’s true!
He is such a c***.
Perfection, Pmnichols. That’s exactly how I’ve always felt about him.
I’m sincerely not trying to insult anyone with the same last name, but fyi, Depp means idiot, douche, jackass, jerk, dolt, moron, schmuck etc. in German. In his case it’s just really more than fitting.
That ACLU money will never see a deserving victim/client. They are crooked as they come. Better to give it dirctly to smaller women shelters.
Shitty but typically controlling move on Depps part. Not surprising at all. (Who knows, this could have been in the diverce agreement.)
I’m not remotely close to be Depp fan but i think this is an agreed deal between their accountants to avoid a huge disaster in the making for Amber (maybe leading to her bankruptcy)
Forbes did an article the past weekend, where it’s mentioned that even if Amber donates all the money immediately to the charity, once the money enters her bank account she would have to declare it to her taxes by the end of the year. Tax break for this money would only benefit her by half of the money and she would have to pay taxes for the other half (meaning, she would have to pay over 1.5 million dollars) and even if she could get some more benefit in the next 5 years, she still would have to pay around 260 k for sure on taxes for this money in the next two years. Reading Amber’s financial reports for their divorce isn’t really clear that she has as much more money as she would need to pay taxes for this money until the moment she could start benefiting from it, so it looked as huge troubles for her
This is Amber’s money so I’m sure she (and her team, lawyers an accountant) chose to who it will be paid and how. Maybe Johnny’s accountant imposed their own way by doing several checks instead of just one or two, but the organizations and the fact that the money don’t go into her bank account must be an agreement between them
Obviously they agreed on this before his rep announce this to tmz! The donations are still in her name and will still help a lot of people/kids in need. Amber did say that she was donating to the ACLU with a focus on helping DV victims.And btw if she did frame an innocent man by making up abuse claims about him then he wouldn’t be doing this and saying that he “Deeply” respects her choice. Nobody deeply respects a liar and gold-digger.
I spoke too soon! They didn’t agree! He did this by himself and Amber is pissed! He was trying to get a tax right off and control the money!
From tmz:Amber’s rep “If Johnny wishes to change the settlement agreement, we must insist that he honor the full amount by donating $14M to charity, which after accounting for his tax deduction, is equal to his $7M payment obligation to Amber.”
The team goes on … “We would also insist that the full amount be paid immediately and not drawn out over many years.”
They blast Johnny’s team, saying, “Anything less would be a transparent attempt by Johnny’s counsel, Laura Wasser and Patti Glaser, to reduce their client’s true payment by half under the guise of newfound concern for charities that he has never previously supported.”
dang.
I can’t believe Wasser or any other lawyer would do anything like this unilaterally. It would expose both her and Depp to massive lawsuits. I know her legal team says he did, but there is something here that we haven’t been told.
Wow! JD’s behavior is shockingly sloppy. There’s no way his accountants thought donating the money directly was a good idea, because JD might be still on the hook to Amber anyway. These are the (bizarre) actions of an addicted manchild used to having his way, no matter what he wants. He’s still lashing out at Amber!
Johnny, she accepted a relatively small amount of money, she wished you well, she acknowledged that you didn’t mean to be a violent douche, the embarrassing leaks stopped… Just pay the woman and let her go!
He is unbelievable. I’m not surprised that wasn’t their original settlement. Not at all. Not from a liar like him.
What else can you expect from a spoiled, pos abuser who has been indulged for almost his entire life. He’s still trying to control and hurt her, even after this whole nightmare of a show should be over. He is in such a batshit downward spiral, of his own making. And he can’t even take responsibility for that. It’s all her doing, right? Ugh.
He should leave the poor woman alone and pay the $14 million dollars in a lump sum – he certainly can afford to pay to put the money where his mouth is. What an entitled dick. Sell the island.
Wow.
Isn’t he swell?
He is in pain – can’t control his woman.
Just f*ck this guy, i hope he rots further all the way to hell.
This might have been done to avoid any taxation issues (donations aren’t taxed), but it’s the wording of the statement that’s problematic to me. Clearly designed to make him look like he’s protecting the money so that she can’t go back her word. Kind of cinched the belief for me that he really is just completely morally degraded at this point because it’s the kind of final strike an abuser would make at their victim. This whole case has been like rewatching my sister’s experience all over again. Get yourself to rehab and clean up your act, Depp.
Yep. One last way to control her/money. He needs to be worried about getting serious long term help instead of trying to control the wife that he doesn’t have anymore.Just when she thought she was rid of him he finds a way to be more of a controlling angry abuser😡😡
Nailed it.
I’m convinced there’s a secret settlement here. Amber can’t afford to walk away with nothing. Maybe she made him donate the money and she agreed to not talk about him anymore. But no way she walked away with nothing.
This as well as Parker story prove the masculinity culture is thriving. Both of the teams (Depp and Parker) keep pushing a narrative based on denial. I understand that it is hard to apologize no matter what. I realize that is even harder to do in the public eye. But the fact that these men do not really regret their action is only part of the horror for me. The fact that studios, PR people and lawyers publically keep promoting the “denial is the best policy” narrative and that the whole mess their clients have caused will eventually be forgotten (and if forgotten then no real damage was done, right?) is just sickening. While writing this I remembered the public apology Kristen Stewart issues after the cooper gate. She apologized directly because the Hollywood PR machine knows that there is no way they will twist the story about wrongdoings of a woman into a victim story that most wrong doings of men are turned into (and cheating does not come close to rape, assault or harrasment). I hope that in this case as well as on Parker’s case there will be a strong negative reaction by the public that will eventually force this whole hollywood machine to adopt their outlook on rapist, pedophiles and drunk abusers.
Agree completely. It’s all very disheartening to say the least.
Kitten – you must not be disheartened. I don’t like contending…but we must.
well, well, well…here’s an update from Amber’s lawyer. I take what I said about as secret settlement back. Depp is a horrid person.
“If Johnny wishes to change the settlement agreement, we must insist that he honor the full amount by donating $14M to charity, which after accounting for his tax deduction, is equal to his $7M payment obligation to Amber. We would also insist that the full amount be paid immediately and not drawn out over many years. Anything less would be a transparent attempt by Johnny’s counsel, Laura Wasser and Patti Glaser, to reduce their client’s true payment by half under the guise of newfound concern for charities that he has never previously supported.”
Johnny has supported LA Children’s Hospital for DECADES and was honered by them in 2006 dinner. Her team are completely clueless. I LOVE that he did this. Amber wanted the tax deduction for herself or was never going to donate at all.
I suggest you read the Forbes article on the money because you are wrong. And her attorneys are going to force him to pay the money in full which is a what a decent human being would do.
I think you are going to have to face it: he’s a slimy, abusive little toad.
…Which is not one of the charities mentioned.
Also, it’s her money. She SHOULD get the write off.
He is totally in violation of their agreement. Also, this is a classic abuser move to keep control. Why are you pro-wife beater?
He was never actually PROVEN to be a woman beater, and she BROKE the NDA by publicly stating her settlement amount
It’s not HER money. It’s Johnny’s and it was a great move on his part.
@Amy-She as never going to donate it all? That’s why the organizations thanked her?! Stfu Depp stalker! It’s okay for him to donate it all in installments btw but not her? All these organizations would have to do is say that they never got the money! She didn’t have to announce anything. And it’s a great move on his part? Yeah because SHE was going to give to charity in the first place. And he was never proven to be an abuser? Really? Did you read that statement? She didn’t lie and there was “No intent” of harm. That’s not a denial in fact that’s an indirect admission. Open your eyes. He’s an angry abuser who’s wife left him and he’s still trying to have some control over her.
Amber recieve a non taxible settlement not alimony, only alimony is taxed. Johnny is the one trying to avoid tax.
Holy shit! Well, there it is. He is just a controlling douche.
Wow. It didn’t occur to me that he could even be that stupid, but here we are.
I had an abusive ex who used to send child support to the daycare directly. He did it so that he could control what I spent the money on. It’s totally a control thing. It took a lot of gumption for me to finally complain about it with the court but when I did they were very clear…the money he paid the daycare was considered a donation. He still owed me the child support. You may think of it as double paying…but it’s not his to decide what to do with. He has to give it to her. And anyone who has dealt with abusers knows this is what they do when they can’t control you any longer. They can’t seem to help themselves. Even if his lawyers told him not to, he’d probably do it anyway.
Exactly. What’s he’s doing its classic controlling behavior. He is scary.
Yep. Mine never saw his kid until I got engaged. Then he would assert his sudden “rights” and return him having bought video games and toys which he deducted from our meager cs check while my son and I ate rice.
Evil sick BASTARD.
He looks like a corpses in that picture!!!! Freaks me out so much!
That being said, this has to be their deal. I’m sure Amber didn’t even want to touch that money. I hate that he’s trying to take credit for it?! It’s 100% Ambers doings….JD gets zero credit. Why does that make me so upset?!
How nice of Johnny to match Amber’s donation before he pays her her settlement 🙂 🙂 🙂
Oh, and after the briefest of brief respites when Amber announced the donations, the Daily Fail comment section is back to its usual vile self.
I will never again watch another movie with Depp in it, I don’t care how good it is or who is among the rest of the cast. He is permanently on my sh*t list.
I feel the same way. I used to love him, but now I don’t even think I can watch his old movies any more, some of which are my favorites. This is Cosby level s–t. Everything he’s ever done is completely tainted for me.
What a scumbag. I’ll never watch another movie that he’s associated with.
Looking forward to y’all’s story on the update- statement by her attorneys tomorrow.
Regarding how he has once again been a fucktard.
Only sent a small portion of the money owed, and is in violation of the divorce agreement.
And I hope Disney loses billions over garbage depp’s vile, abusive, bloated, junkie grossness.
Isn’t he most pitiful? – he cannot control Amber! There are so many docudrama’s that could be made of these moments…between prey and those who need to desecrate… I feel his desperation. When she left, all she was asking for was spousal support! Johnny Depp did All Of This. I pity him, as does Amber, but she is making him accountable – Surprise!
http://www.etonline.com/news/189603_johnny_depp_and_amber_heard_to_divorce_a_timeline/
The ideal outcome here is he is forced to ALSO pay the 7M to Amber as per the agreement and she can donate to them herself so they get extra money and he learns his lesson. But he seems to continuously get away with being a piece of sh!t so I doubt that will happen.
That would be amazing though.
Isn’t a divorce monetary settlement taxable as income? If so, I would assume the payments directly to the charities means Amber doesn’t first have to pay taxes on it (and thus, this is part of the agreement, as well as the timing of *her* announcement as well as his). I also believe this is 100% in the agreement because it would not relieve Johnny of his obligation to pay Amber, no matter what the announcement said.
All responses are in the third person. Mr. Depp is not saying anything or doing anything!
But you are right: Someone is insistent on showing power by feverishly trying to make his sad downfall we see before our very eyes into a show of strength and magnanimity.
Why does this piss me off more than anything he’s said so far? If this isn’t part of their agreement she probably couldn’t sue him because it would make her look petty.
She could, however, make one last statement about his controlling ways and how this is one last action that proves it. I would if I were her.
Also, is she required to pay taxes on this donated money? What if she needed to use part of it to pay taxes?
I hope this was per her request, if not, total control move!
Amber’s reps talked to People and basically said that Johnny is just trying to get a tax deduction for himself and they are trying putting a stop to it. They say it’s Johnny’s way of trying to get away with only paying half of what he owes.
I have a feeling she is falling into a trap here.
I wonder what his net worth really is ? he gave Vanessa 150 million when they spilt dose he pay any child support ?they most likely go to a private school plus drug drink habit and baller lifestyle money can’t be going that far . He did the same thing to Vanessa trashed her in the press like she was the devil everything was her fault but we now he needs a babysitter
He’s manipulating this in order to mess with her, and gain financial benefit for himself. I’m sure tax considerations were taken into account when she decided to donate the money. Direct donations under his name AND in the form of instalments, what a piece of work he is!
Still not buying her side of things…. #sorrynotsorry
Totally agree.
If she wanted me to believe her, she should have materialised in my flat along with depp, so I could witness the whole thing myself. Then, and just then, I might have considered believing some parts of her story.
Stupid gold digger with her photos, videos, witness testimonies and her decision to give all the money to charity.
Thank you.
When you break up with someone and their (childish, spiteful, irrational) reaction cements your decision… Right now, Amber might be feeling wistful about her failed marriage but instead she’s probably thinking, “GOOD RIDDANCE, KING BABY.”
Yep. I can’t even imagine how she’ll feel when he finally sends her money along and she can be on her way.
He called her bluff or didn’t trust her to donate so he he beat her to the punch.
Yes, indeed, Wolfie: “He beat her to the punch.” And who knows what else he beat her with, besides the flying cell phone.
“He beat her to the punch”… bad choice of words in trying to defend Depp’s awful behavior. Should’ve been more careful.
Depp continues to look more like the over 50 yr old he is Still thinks he bought and paid for Amber! Total control freak! I hope the whole settlement agreement is Void now per her lawyers statement ” if he wants to change the agreement” Hope it’s Voided and hope sshe keeps All the 7 million let Depp make the donations! I too won’t watch any mmore of his movies!
LOL!
Amber Heard was Johnny Depp’s Waterloo.