New leaked e-mails show that Johnny Depp was more than £3 million in debt approximately eight years ago, despite being one of the world’s best-paid actors at the time.

The 54 year old Pirates of the Caribbean star is currently suing his former business managers for about £22 million, alleging that they mishandled his earnings for the best part of two decades. They, in turn, are refuting Depp’s claims and say that his financial mishaps are down to his lavish spending.

However, a new e-mail thread dating from December 2009, revealed in court documents obtained by Deadline that were filed in a Los Angeles court on Monday (June 19th), show that the managers were warning Depp about his spending eight years ago.

Johnny DeppJohnny Depp

“What else can I do??? You want me to sell some art??? you want me to sell something else??? sure ... what???” he wrote in reply to Joel Mandel, one of the business managers he is suing. “I got bikes, cars, property, books, paintings, and some semblance of a soul left. Where would you like me to start???”

Depp also said that his income from the upcoming The Tourist, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Dark Shadows would total £59.5 million.

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“I am doing my very best on holiday spending, but there is only so much I can do, as I need to give my kiddies and famille [sic] as good a Christmas as possible, obviously within reason,” he wrote after Mandel pleaded with him to rein in his spending while on holiday over the festive period.

Depp’s original lawsuit claimed that Mandel’s The Management Group (TMG) “actively concealed the true state of Mr Depp’s finances while driving him deeper and deeper into financial distress.”

In their counter-suit, the Mandels maintain that they “did everything within its power over the last 17 years to protect Depp from himself and to keep Depp financially solvent.”

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