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Johnny Depp's outrageous spending habits aren't relevant in his legal battle

News Agencies 11 July 2017, 14:40 IST

Johnny Depp's outrageous spending habits aren't relevant in his legal battle

A Los Angeles court judge has ruled that Johnny Depp's spending, which at one time totaled up to two million USD a month, is not relevant in the current legal battle he has with his ex-business mangers.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, L.A. superior court judge Teresa Beaudet found that The Management Group (TMG) - which counter-sued Depp after the actor sued its principals Joel and Robert Mandel for allegedly collecting millions in fees without his consent in January - failed to connect how Depp's spending relates to the money the actor allegedly still owes the company.

"The pages of allegations of Depp's allegedly outrageous spending clearly have no relevance to the five percent commission allegedly owed TMG from the ' Pirates of the Caribbean' payout, or to the final work done by TMG on transitioning their files to Depp's new representatives," she wrote.

Adding, "They would seem more relevant to the allegations of breach of oral contract related to the credit card debts, except that TMG does not specifically allege which exact expenditures by Depp were spent on which card, leading to that debt owed. Without specifics, the Court cannot find they are relevant to any cause of action in the FACC."

However, the fraud claim against Depp still stands. TMG alleged that its employees aided in Depp's transition to a new business manager because it had been repeatedly told it would be paid after the transition was complete.

After patiently waiting through more than two hours of other cases on Beaudet's calendar, attorneys for Depp and TMG argued for only about 15 minutes.

The judge changed her tentative decision only slightly, allowing TMG to amend its claim for declaratory relief.

Both sides are declaring the ruling a win.

"Today, the court threw out a meritless cause of action TMG never should have asserted. The fact that they had to change their theory on the fly is a sign of their desperation to distract from the real issues in the case. The court also granted Mr. Depp's motion to strike from the cross-complaint a mountain of gratuitous smears about him. This was a good day for Johnny Depp," said Depp's attorney Benjamin Chew after the hearing.

-ANI

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