Lil Wayne Calls Birdman"s Bluff, He"s Gotta Pay Before "Carter V" Plays

Birdman was “full of s***” when he declared Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter V” was coming out soon, and that’s according to Lil Wayne himself. Our Weezy sources tell us the rapper thinks Birdman needs to stop crowing about the now-mythical album, and…

ReadMore…

Johnny Depp to Amber Heard: I"m Calling Your Charity Bluff!

After months of increasingly ugly legal wrangling, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard reached a divorce settlement last week.

But just because their lawyers have worked things out, that doesn’t mean these two are finished pleading their cases in the court of public opinion.

In what’s been interpreted as a giant “eff you!” to Depp, Amber announced that she would be donating the entirety of his $ 7 million spousal support to the ACLU and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

 Both organizations will receive $ 3.5 million in installments, as Depp isn’t required to pay the whole sum at once.

(We’re sure he could make that much by doing a 30-second Captain Jack cameo in an Avengers movie, but he would almost certainly be assassinated by a Marvel fanboy within days of the film’s release.)

Anyway, in a passive aggressive move worthy of your Post-It note-happy roommate, Johnny is cutting out the middle man and offering to write the checks directly to the charities Amber has chosen.

This morning, Depp’s attorneys issued a statement reading:

View Slideshow: Johnny Depp Domestic Abuse Allegations: Stars React

“Following Amber Heard’s announcement that her divorce settlement was to be divided equally and gifted to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union, two exceptionally deserving and important charities, Johnny Depp has sent the first of multiple installments of those monies to each charity in the name of Amber Heard, which when completed will honor the full amount of Ms. Heard’s pledge.”

We assume the lawyer who drafted the press release promptly dropped the mic as Mekhi Phifer took the stage to declare him the new King of Legal Dick Moves, a la the end of 8 Mile.

It’s really a pretty ingenious maneuver:

On the surface, it looks like Depp’s just putting a philanthropic spin on an ugly situation.

But when you dig a little deeper, there’s a diabolical bonus.

He gets to call Amber’s bluff and make sure she doesn’t keep a dime of the $ 7 mill, all while regaining some of the good-guy cred he lost over the past few months.

Depp spared no expense in the legal department, shelling out for legendary divorce lawyer Laura Wasser.

It’s strategies like this that make that money well-spent.

Now Heard is left with no option but to go along with the payment plan, lest she look like she was BS-ing about her planned charitable contributions.

It’s the smartest and most unexpected move Depp’s made since he decided to take a role based on a freakin’ Disney land ride and interpret the character as a sea-faring Keith Richards.

Of course, only time will tell if it’ll help the 53-year-old erase the memory of some of his less flattering recent roles.

The damage to his career will probably be temporary.

But Depp’s days as Disney’s go-to guy for live-action fare may be over.