Both sides present their arguments publicly
Representatives for both Mötley Crüe and former co-founding guitarist Mick Mars have stated their cases publicly to Variety about the pending lawsuit Mars has against his former bandmates. The 71 year old guitarist filed a lawsuit against his former bandmates last week after the Crüe decided to take him to arbitration over terms of him retiring from touring. Mars says his 25 percent ownership in the band was diminished to five percent after retiring from the road in late 2022, and is seeking to review the financial records to see what else he may be owed. The band’s litigation attorney, Sasha Frid, calls the suit baseless, after each of the four members signed an amended agreement in 2008 that states no one shall receive any further money if services are not rendered.
“In the event that any Shareholder no longer renders services in MC then no amount of purported value shall be attributable to the Trademarks at the time of resignation, but all such Trademarks shall continue to be the exclusive property of the Corporation,” Variety reports. “In the event that any Shareholder resigns from performing and/or rendering services in MC… he shall not be permitted to continue to use the Trademarks for any purpose whatsoever… Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, in no event shall any Resigning Shareholder be entitled to receive any monies attributable to live performances (i.e., tours).”
The group’s manager of nearly 30 years, Allen Kovac, says Mars has started a slanderous smear campaign against his clients to “gain leverage” over the case.
“He’s attacked the band, and he’s done it in a slanderous way, with false accusations and misrepresenting the facts to the fans. Mick is not the victim. The victims are Motley Crue and the brand, which Mick is so prideful of,” Kovac tells Variety. “What’s upsetting to me is not Mick, but his representatives, who have guided Mick to say and do harmful things to the brand he cares about so much, Motley Crue. He has a degenerative disease and people are taking advantage of him. It’s called elder abuse.”
He continues, “Mick’s representatives have no idea what they’ve created, but I’ve stopped the band from speaking about this, so they’re not gonna turn the fans against Mick. But I am going to make sure that people understand that Mick hasn’t been treated badly. In fact, he was treated better than anyone else in the band, and they carried him and they saved his life.”
Mars’ attorney Edwin F. McPherson fires back. He states that the signed declarations the band obtained from members of its touring crew about Mars’ alleged performances on last year’s Stadium Tour only benefit the band.
“It is interesting that these declarations about Mick’s playing are from employees of Motley Crue, who rely on the band for their livelihood. I noticed that there are no declarations from anyone about the other members’ playing – or not playing,” McPherson says.
“Did you ever wonder why Motley Crue’s lawyers drafted declarations stating that Mick was unfit to perform successfully on tour, and had them signed — albeit by people whose livelihoods depend on pleasing Motley Crue — in response to Mick announcing that he is retiring from touring? If Mick is so bad, isn’t it a matter of ‘problem solved’? … The bottom line is that this case is not about whether or not Mick can still play. It is not even about whether the other band members are playing anything at all. But if you are going to gather disparaging declarations from employees, and kick someone out of the band for not playing properly — ironically, after he tells you that he can no longer handle touring anymore — you better get out of your glass house.”
In October, Mars and the band made conflicting statements regarding Mars’ future with the group after he announced he was stepping away from touring after 41 years due to ankylosing spondylitis (AS), an inflammatory, arthritic disease that causes vertebrae to fuse. Mars said he “will be no longer be able to tour with the band,” and will “continue as a member of the band, but can no longer handle the rigors of the road.” While the band stated, “We accept Mick’s decision to retire from the band due to the challenges with his health.”
However, McPherson says despite retiring, Mars is still entitled to his share of profits as it deals with health concerns.
“No, resigning from touring — or even from the band entirely — is not resigning from the band’s corporations and LLCs,” McPherson states. “Corporate law doesn’t work that way. If Jeff Bezos stops working at Amazon someday, he still gets to own the company! So does Mick.”
Kovac counters that “there’s nothing left” when you remove touring from the equation of Motley Crue. “There are no record royalties. There are no publishing royalties or income from performance or neighboring rights,” since each of the members have sold or are selling their publishing and the band sold its catalog master recordings to BMG in 2021. “What is left? What does he want to do?”
Kovac adds, “He was offered a terrific opportunity. An offer was made to him at five percent, and then up to seven and a half percent, to avoid this. What Mick’s asking for is an equal share, 25% — but there’s a guy named John 5 in the band. Mick resigned from touring, and John 5’s getting paid. So who’s gonna pay John 5? None of this makes sense… They’ve got (a 2023 tour) they’re about halfway through, so let’s (estimate) $150 million (in gross), and then you take off for production and commissions, and let’s call it 100 or 110 million. What’s seven and a half percent of that? He says it’s an insult. And you’ve got me quoting that the other two guys got zero when they were out of the band,” talking about Vince Neil and Tommy Lee when they left the group at different periods.
MyPherson argues, “Vince was thrown out of the band, and Tommy left for other endeavors. This was a long time ago. They did not leave after 41 years, and they did not simply retire from touring, particularly because of a debilitating disease. This scenario that you discuss would allow Sixx to get rid of everyone, and he would be the last man standing, owning everything. That is not how corporate law works, and that is not even how normal bands work, especially (regarding) a band founder.”
Last year, more than 1.3 million tickets sold for The Stadium Tour which also featured Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard continue the trek with The World Tour hitting the US, Europe and beyond.
