Johnny Depp’s Ex-Agent Details Grace’s Fall

Johnny Depp’s former agent recalled on Thursday that he ruined the actor’s career and reputation due to drug and alcohol problems.

Trace Jacobs of United Talent Agency told jurors in the ongoing defamation lawsuit against Depp’s ex-husband Amber Heard that the actor went from being “the biggest star in the world” to a position that studies distrusted for his “unprofessional behavior”. .

Depp became known for regularly showing up late on set and stopping filming, Jacobs said. At one point, the actor had to start using headphones to broadcast his lines to her.

“His star disappeared because it made it difficult for him to get a job, as he got a reputation for being late and stuff,” Jacobs said, adding that “people were talking” about his drug use.

The testimony directly contradicts one of Depp’s main accusations against his ex: that an article published in December 2018 was written by Herd. Washington post This led him to boycott Hollywood. He claimed he was cut Pirates of the Caribbean The franchise launched shortly after the publication of a column not specifically naming but describing “domestic violence” during the appropriate period of their marriage.

On Thursday, Jacobs described in detail Depp’s massive popularity before his problems, which he blamed on alcohol and drug use, became a problem for the studios.

Depp received a $25 million prepayment in 2017 for the lead role Pirates of the Caribbean: The Dead Tell No TalesAccording to Jacobs. said your business Murder on the Orient ExpressReleased the same year, it earned him “$5 million for four straight weeks.” [of work] In addition to a wonderful setting in which he received a significant amount of money later on.

Asked if Depp has starred in the main film since Depp released it in 2016, Jacobs said he was considering Invisible Man But Universal ended up with “a woman on a much smaller budget.”

“In the beginning, the teams loved him because he was always very good to him. [them], – Jacobs said from the dais, – but the band doesn’t like to spend hours and hours waiting for the movie star to show up. He also entered the city. People speak. This is a small community. “People didn’t want to use it to the fullest.”

Disney production executive Tina Newman, who claimed Depp’s alleged injuries as a result of Herd’s article, confirmed she was unaware that the column played a role in the company’s decision not to go anywhere else. pirates Franchise. He pointed to letters from Disney executives to Sean Bale, Alan Horn and Alan Bergman discussing issues with Depp on set and in the office.

Depp’s current agent Jack Wigham previously revealed that Depp was set to pay $22.5 million to reprise his role as Jack Sparrow in the sixth. pirates The movie, but Disney took another tack after Herd’s opera.

After her role as the evil witch Gellert Grindelwald on Warner Bros. fantastic beasts In the process of remaking the franchise, Depp did not appear in any of the studio’s major films. Your last movie add, Guaranteed for US theatrical release one year after the originally scheduled date. Director Andrew Levitas complained that MGM, which owns the US rights to the film, was buried. add Due to allegations of violence against Depp.

The jury also showed Adam Waldman, one of Depp’s lawyers, one of Depp’s lawyers fired following an information leak covered by a press protection order, about his role in Depp’s alleged smear campaign against Herd. He publicly declared that he had been abused.

Herd’s lawyers tried to persuade Waldmann to make statements to the press on Depp’s behalf, arguing that Herd’s abuse allegations made no sense, but he managed to avoid questions with attorney-client privilege.

in a statement The Daily MailWaldman said that Hurd “criticized Depp by calling the police”, indicating a police visit to the couple’s home, after which Hurd refused to charge Depp with domestic violence. He said in another statement: “We have reached the end of Ms. Herd’s insult to Johnny Depp.”

Asked if he had reason to believe Herd was lying, Waldman pointed to witnesses who “witnessed in various ways that there were no facial injuries” following the May 2016 incident in which Depp allegedly threw a phone at Herd. And battered Depp argued that Herd faked his injuries, which were used to get a restraining order for domestic violence.

Waldman added that videos and photos provided to him by Depp’s close friend Marilyn Manson “Angria” Herd allege the actor hit him on Thanksgiving 2013.

Jurors also heard testimony from Depp’s former business manager Joel Mandel. He described in detail the collapse of the actor’s finances after his expenses “unjustifiably” increased. This was followed by Jacobs’ testimony, in which he mentioned a case in 2016 when Depp demanded $20 million from UTA, which was denied by agency partners Jeremy Zimmer and Jim Berkus. Later, UTA granted him a loan.

Depp sued Mandel and his other former managers in 2017 for $25 million, accusing them of stealing money from him. The Management Group, which sued Joel and Robert Mandela, has filed a lawsuit alleging that Depp spent millions of dollars on many homes, wine and private jets, among other expenses they said he could not afford. (The cases were resolved in 2018.)