By BEN FINLEY

Three people who were once close to Johnny Depp on Thursday charted the actor’s rise and fall from “the biggest movie star in the world” to a man who struggled with drugs, money and the ability to show up at movie sets on time.

Testifying at the behest of attorneys representing Depp’s ex-wife Amber Heard were a longtime agent, a former business manager and a friend of Depp’s for nearly four decades.

Tracey Jacobs, who served as the actor’s agent for about 30 years, said Depp was “showing up late to set consistently on virtually every movie” during their final years working together.

“I was very honest with him and said, ‘You’ve got to stop doing this – this is hurting you,’” Jacobs said during a previously recorded deposition that was played in court Thursday. “And it did.”

The testimony served to push back against Depp’s libel lawsuit against Heard. Depp claims that a 2018 op-ed piece Heard wrote in The Washington Post unfairly portrayed him as a domestic abuser and cost him a lucrative Hollywood career that included the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise.

Heard’s attorneys argue that Depp’s professional undoing was the result of his own bad behavior.

Depp says he never struck Heard and that he was the victim of abuse inflicted by her. Heard’s attorneys say Depp did physically and sexually assault her, and that his denials of abuse lack credibility because he frequently drank and used drugs to the point of blacking out.

Jacobs said Depp was an extraordinary talent who went on to become “the biggest movie star in the world.” But his behavior in the years before he fired her in 2016 became increasingly unprofessional, while his drug and alcohol use increased, Jacobs said.

“And it also got around town,” Jacobs said. “I mean, people talk, it’s a small community. And it made people reluctant to use him.”

Joel Mandel, Depp’s former business manager, testified in a previously recorded deposition that the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films had “catapulted him into an entirely different level of success.”

“It meant more employees,” Mandel said. “It meant buying additional property. … It meant a bigger life and a more expensive one.”

Things began to change around 2010, and it “became clear over time that there were issues with alcohol and drugs,” Mandel said. “And that translated into more erratic behavior, more stressful behavior, more times when it was difficult to engage in the kinds of conversations I needed to do my job.”

At one point, Depp was spending around $100,000 a month for a doctor and staff to help him get sober, Mandel said. At another, he was spending $300,000 a month on full-time staff, he said. And he said there also were times when Depp spent thousands of dollars a month on prescription drugs.

“The spending levels had grown very, very, very large and required that level of incredibly high income to be maintained,” Mandel said. “And when it dropped off, the disconnect became untenable.”

Mandel said he became extremely worried about Depp’s finances in 2015, but that Depp met those concerns with anger. He said the actor fired him in 2016.

Bruce Witkin, a musician who was friends with Depp for nearly 40 years, testified in a previously recorded deposition that Depp could become jealous in his romantic relationships.

That jealousy was demonstrated with Heard when she would be off filming a movie “or doing something that he couldn’t be around to see what was going in,” Witkin said. “I think he would work himself up.”

Witkin said he once saw bruises on Heard’s arm when he and Depp were working on a documentary about Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. And he saw Depp with a “fat lip” one time. But Witkin said he never saw Depp or Heard physically abuse each other.

Witkin said he tried to help Depp with his substance abuse and had set him up with a therapist.

“He’d say, ‘I’ll be all right. I’ll be all right,’” Witkin said, recalling a conversation. “Well, you’re not all right.”

Depp’s sister, Christi Dembrowski, was always concerned with his well-being, both in terms of his substance abuse and generally, Witkin said.

“Everybody, I think, deep down inside was, but … the people on the payroll won’t really say much. They’ll try but they don’t want to lose their job,” Witkin said. “I’m not saying they all fall into the category. But it’s a strange thing around people like him. Everybody wants something.”

Witkin said his friendship with Depp began to dissolve toward the end of 2017, when the actor started to pull away.

“He wrote me this weird text saying I stabbed him in the back and badmouthed him,” Witkin said. “And I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ And he wouldn’t explain it. And I pretty much haven’t seen him since 2018.”

On Wednesday, Minnesota United opened its locker-room doors to reporters at Allianz Field for the first time since the pandemic shut down MLS in 2020 and then restricted access out of precaution into the first three months of this season.

Spotted amid the bustle of the anteroom/cafe was manager Adrian Heath speaking Spanish with Emanuel Reynoso’s young daughter. Inside the egg-shaped dressing room, new Loons fullback Oniel Fisher sat in his stall near the doors. While the Jamaican had been benched for the 1-1 draw with Los Angeles Galaxy that night, he wasn’t storming out.

Instead, Fisher suggested the player who usurped him in the starting XI receive the spotlight’s shine. “Make sure you get D.J.” Taylor, he said.

Taylor was the guy behind the guy in the Loons’ comeback. Trailing 1-0 in the 87th minute, Taylor outhustled four Galaxy defenders, and just before reaching the end line, provided the pass to set up Robin Lod’s equalizing goal.

“It was amazing effort,” Lod said of Taylor. “Making the push into the box and then making the right decision on the final pass, all the credit for him.”

Taylor has had to make do with infrequent playing time in MLS games this season. Even with Minnesota dealing with injuries, trades and mid-year arrivals at its fullback spots, Taylor didn’t play in league play for more than a month.

He played two games for the club’s new developmental team, MNUFC2, in MLS NEXT Pro and two games for the Loons in the U.S. Open Cup. The Galaxy game was only his third MLS start of the season and the second time he went a full 90 minutes. He has played in only six of 12 MLS games this season.

“(Heath) has given me more confidence and I have to take advantage of it and secure the spot,” Taylor told the Pioneer Press. “Although he doesn’t really say it to you, ‘I’m giving you confidence,’ he does it in his own way. Whether it’s tough love, whatever you want to call it.”

After three years with North Carolina FC in the lower-level USL from 2018-20, Taylor nearly had his first MLS goal Wednesday. But his diving header off a Franco Frapapane cross was saved. The 24-year-old had to settle for his first MLS assist, a nice parting gift worth celebrating.

“I might have a Coke and some chocolate cake or something,” Taylor said. “ I think internally it’s very good for me. I’ve been working hard since I got here with the club, and it feels good to be a part of that. The work doesn’t stop here.”

Taylor wants to keep his spot in the starting XI for Sunday’s game at FC Dallas. Taylor’s passing will go a long way toward that aim; he had five progressive passes and two completed crosses into the 18-yard box, per fbref.com. It’s the type of attacking contribution the Loons have lacked with Romain Metanire on the shelf.

After Sunday, the clock will be ticking louder on Taylor being able to keep his spot. Metanire, a former MLS All-Star right back, is in his sixth week of rehab from an aggravated hamstring injury. The injury cost him the start of the season, then he played 22 minutes of an April 10 game and hurt himself again.

Heath said the club with be cautious with Metanire, but the 32-year-old could return to game action after the U.S. Open Cup round of 16 match against Union Omaha on Wednesday.

Taylor said Fisher, 30, has been a good veteran to have in the locker room, just a few stalls away from his. “We have a really good friendship on and off the field,” Taylor said. “… When you are competing for a spot, guys can be fighting each other off the field and trying to get in each other’s way, but we have a really good relationship, so whether he is playing or I’m playing, we love to push each other, and that is going to be better for the team.”

Whether he enjoyed that soda and dessert or not, Taylor remains hungry. “I think any time I get more than one game consistently that is when my confidence is highest,” Taylor said. “Now I want that second, third, fourth game.”