The conversation about Johnny Depp’s steep downward spiral started happening a few years back, when he was finalizing his divorce with Amber Heard and trying to cheap out on paying her. People thought it was weird that he was being so cheap, and people thought it was weird that Depp was suddenly selling off pieces of artwork because of cash flow problems. Soon we had the answer: Depp had blown through hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade in particular.

Depp ended up suing his former business managers, and that’s when the real dirt started coming out, from Depp’s outrageous spending to his sister’s shadiness to weird loans being “floated” to cover his debts and more. His lawsuit against The Management Company was one of the reasons why he decided to sit down for that ghastly Rolling Stone piece too. Well, after years of back-and-forth in the press and more than a handful of lawyers dumping Depp, it seems like Depp and The Management Company have come to some kind of settlement.

About a month away from a trial that would have captivated the entertainment industry, Johnny Depp has settled his blockbuster lawsuit against his former business managers. The deal was made at a mediation session on Saturday, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Depp filed his $25 million fraud case against The Management Company at the beginning of 2017. He alleged being the victim of gross misconduct and that the firm run by Joel and Robert Mandell, which had represented him for 17 years, had failed to file or pay his taxes on time, failed to keep proper books, loaned money to third parties without authorization, and was self-dealing by investing his money in business ventures in which the firm’s partners had ownership stakes. Depp was looking to recover commissions. But that was only his side of the story.

According to the Mandels, who brought counterclaims, the firm repeatedly warned and advised Depp to reduce his spending and sell unnecessary assets. They charged Depp with living an “ultraextravagant lifestyle that knowingly cost Depp in excess of $2 million per month to maintain, which he simply could not afford.”

Depp’s alleged spending — $30,000 a month for wine, $500,000 in rental fees for storage warehouses that held his Hollywood collectibles, $200,000 for a private jet, and on and on — all became fodder in the lawsuit. The detailed spending also fueled many stories telling how he blew an estimated $650 million fortune. (Depp is also in the midst of a legal battle with his former transactional attorney, Jake Bloom.)

The trial was quickly advancing with an Aug. 15 date that the judge refused to move back any further. The mediation session represented the parties’ last shot at coming to a deal, and both sides were probably motivated to avoid any embarrassing secrets that would come out in open court. Then again, Depp and his lawyer recently told Rolling Stone that this lawsuit would change Hollywood forever. Instead, with no word on the terms of the settlement and dismissal papers forthcoming, it will end quietly if certainly memorably.

[From THR]

What do you think? I think it’s still pretty shady, don’t you? It was clear from the Rolling Stone piece that Depp really had no idea where his money was going on a regular basis, but that’s still not an excuse. I also think that his former managers were playing a little fast and loose… at times. But they did their due diligence for much of the past decade and they tried to get through to Depp, to no avail. What I’m saying is that I have no idea how they could settle this, because it seemed like a Gordian knot of wine, scarves and wasted millions.

Photos courtesy of WENN.