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Tracey Jacobs, testifying in a recorded statement, said she represented Depp as his talent agent for 30 years and once said he was “the biggest star in the world.” Jacobs said Depp quit her around the same time he parted ways with other business partners in his life.
Jacobs testified that she was honest with Depp that he was consistently late for sets and that his behavior, including drug and alcohol use, harmed his career. She testified that Depp had to regularly use an earphone on set to be fed his lines.
“His star was dimmed because it was getting harder to get him jobs given the reputation he’d built up for being late and other things,” Jacobs testified. “People were talking and the question of his behavior was out there.”
Depp’s “pirate” future
Jacobs testified that Depp found himself in a state of “financial desperation” at one point and asked the agency to give him $20 million.
Longtime Disney exec Tina Newman, whose testimony was recorded in February and who played for the jury Thursday, said she didn’t recall seeing Heard’s comment and didn’t know if Depp was up for a role be considered in the sixth. Movie “Pirates”.
“It’s over my head,” Newman testified. “All I know is that it’s a project that might be in development in the studio.”
The jury also heard recorded testimony from Depp’s former CEO Joel Mandel, who Depp split with in 2016 and whose company sued Depp in 2017, accusing him of mismanagement of his earnings. The lawsuit was settled in 2018.
Mandel testified that around 2010, Depp became more difficult to work with due to what appeared to be a daily use of substances.
“What I used to experience as a wine connoisseur at the end of the day became what seemed like excessive consumption,” Mandel said. “The ability to coordinate and find times when he would meet up became more difficult. Over time, it became clear that there were problems with alcohol and drugs. And that led to more erratic behavior, more stressful behavior, and more times when it was difficult to engage in the kind of conversations I needed to get my job done.”
Mandel said he began very regularly voicing his concerns about Depp’s “very poor financial situation” in 2015, saying that while Depp’s income is very significant, so are his expenses. He said Depp once paid employees $300,000 a month.
Heard’s legal team has pointed out that several of Depp’s paid associates have testified against them as part of his case, and have accused them of siding with Depp because he pays them.
Heard’s agent Jessica Kovachevic testified that the actress’ career after Aquaman has not taken the expected upward trajectory and she feels negative media attention has been detrimental to her income.
Kovachevic also testified that there were no issues with Heard’s performance in the 2018 DC hit film and that she expected Heard to earn more after starring but didn’t.
CNN has reached out to Warner Bros., the studio behind the film, for comment. (CNN and Warner Bros. share a parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery)
Ellen Barkin testifies
Actress Ellen Barkin, who said she has known Depp since 1990, testified that she was in a relationship with Depp that turned sexual for several months in 1994.
Barkin testified that Depp was drunk “most or most of the time” when she was with him and described him as controlling and jealous. She described an incident in a Las Vegas hotel room when an argument broke out between others.
“Mr. Depp threw a wine bottle across the room, the hotel room, on one occasion in Las Vegas while we were shooting ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,'” Barkin recalled.
The court case resumes Monday for the final week of testimony.
