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Mars alleged as part of the lawsuit that other group members mimicked parts of the 2022 tour while he performed live in its entirety, despite complaints about his performance, which he says feed into demands to have him sign a termination agreement
Mick Mars, guitarist for Motley Crüe for 41 years, has filed legal documents that bring to light deep and seemingly hostile disagreements between himself and the other three members of the band. The lawsuit only requires that the group turn over relevant documents about its dealings prior to the arbitration. But the wealth of detail in Mars’ file offers a provocative look at the tensions between him and the others, who he says were a pattern of “gaslighting” to throw him out of the group.
The filings, filed Thursday by Mars attorney Edwin F. McPherson in Los Angeles County Superior Court, say the band intentionally withheld information about the various Motley Crue companies in which he has a 25% interest. Mars says the band has required him to sign a severance agreement that would relieve him of those and other future interests in exchange for a 5% stake in the group’s 2023 tour, which will take place without him.
What’s more, the suit immediately clears up what’s been confusing fans since he and other band members made conflicting statements last October. At the time, Mars issued a statement saying he was stepping down from touring duties due to worsening health issues, but would otherwise remain a member of the group. The next day, the other members issued their own statement, saying Mars had “retired” from the band entirely, without reserve. Mars is now making it clear that the band’s statement was part of a campaign to oust him completely against his will, and he has no intention of going quietly.
Motley Crüe representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The filing further alleges that the group — particularly Nikki Sixx, a leader of the band on business matters — had a pattern of belittling him for years, telling him he had cognitive problems and touring him for allegedly bad playing, including the Stadium outing, offended He graduated with the band in 2022. In turn, Mars claims that the other members of the group partially or fully mime on this tour and says that he was the only one to perform each show live in its entirety from top to bottom.
And in response to the band’s apparent position in their letters of formal notice that he was fired for cause, Mars’ attorney recounts a tale of felony convictions on the part of the other members — such as Vince Neil’s conviction of manslaughter — and alleged drug and alcohol use and say the guitarist has the fewest grounds of any in the group to be fired based on their decades-old agreement that gives each a 25% stake.
Mars’ action takes the form of an “approved request for power of attorney to compel inspection and copying of books, records and documents” held by half a dozen companies that fall under the Motley Crue umbrella. He goes on to say that the paperwork the group asked him to sign asked him to divest affiliated companies he didn’t even know existed until now.
Announcing his retirement from the road last fall shortly after completing a 36-day stadium tour, Mars, 71, cited debilitating pain from the debilitating disease he’s had since he was 27, an inflammatory form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and affects the pelvis.” Mars, in his suit, says he can’t move his head back and forth because of the illness. “Over the years, this disease caused Mars’ lower spine to spasm and freeze completely, resulting in scoliosis in his back and also forcing his spine down so that he is now at least three inches shorter than he was in.” the High School. His spine is now fully engaged from pelvis to skull, a condition known as ‘bamboo spine’.”
Despite these issues, Mars claims he can still perform his parts perfectly and is willing and able to participate in anything that doesn’t subject him to the rigors of the road. He intended to remain with the band for recording, one-off shows and possible residencies, as well as maintaining his financial interests and only giving up the touring aspect of the job. (Guitarist John 5 replaced him for the group’s current tour.)
“How did the 41-year-old brothers of Mars react to Mars’ tragic announcement? [about quitting the road]?” the suit asks. “They noted an emergency shareholders’ meeting for the band’s main company to throw Mars out of the band, fire him as a director of the company, fire him as an officer of the company, and strip him of his shares in the corporation. When he didn’t walk away quietly, they pretended to fire him from six other band companies and LLCs.”
The lawsuit states, “For much of the band’s recent tenure, Sixx has continually ‘fired’ Mars by telling him that he (Mars) has some sort of cognitive dysfunction and that his guitar playing is subpar, and claiming Mars has Forgot chords. and sometimes started playing the wrong songs.
“Amazingly, Sixx made these claims about Mars playing while he (Sixx) did not play a single note on the bass during the entire US tour,” the letter continued. “Ironically, 100% of Sixx’s bass parts were nothing but recordings. Sixx was seen pumping air in the air with his strumming hand while playing the bass part. In fact, a significant portion of (Vince) Neil’s vocals were pre-recorded as well. Even some of (Tommy) Lee’s drum parts were recorded. In fact, some fans noticed that upon hearing his drum part begin, Lee walked towards his drum kit.
“Mars played the wrong chords at times on tour, but not due to cognitive dysfunction,” the statement said. “He was playing live and his in-ear monitors kept malfunctioning, resulting in Mars not being able to hear his own instrument. The fact is, Mars is rarely mocked or criticized on the internet. He’s a quiet member of the group who shows up to play and puts his heart and soul into every performance. Conversely, other band members are often criticized online, notably Neil, who is routinely torn to pieces for, among other things, not remembering the songs.”
Shortly before the dueling press releases, the musician’s lawyer had a “separation and release agreement” signed, which – falsely, according to Mars – stated that he “no longer wanted to serve his services and perform in the band” and that “Mars no longer wanted to.” to be an officer or director of the Motley Crüe entities,” before concluding that Mars hereby resigns as an officer and director of the Motley Crüe entities.”
In exchange for the signing, his share of the band’s touring earnings would be cut from 25% to 5% for the 2023 tour, and then to 0% for future tours. (Though Motley Crue did a “farewell tour” in the 2010s, Sixx recently said they now plan to tour into the early 2030s.) The same percentages, dropping to zero, would apply to merch profits, with one exception of shirts featuring his touring replacement, John 5, which Mars wouldn’t get anything for.
A footnote in the lawsuit states that it’s not uncommon for a longtime member of a band who owns shares to retain those rights even if they quit or get fired. “Countless members have left countless bands (usually in less than 41 years) or died, and yet retained their shareholder, officer and director status and attendant right to profits (or retained their estates),” Mars said. lawyer points out.
Mars’ lawyer said he had been warned: “If your client refuses the settlement that the band has graciously offered him, he will get next to nothing. I suggest you consider the implications of this decision… There is an undisputed legal basis for Mick’s removal here. Mick cannot perform as a full band member. Among other things, as shown on the last tour, he keeps forgetting his chords, does not play the right song, plays chords of another song on stage and so on.
Mars’ attorney wrote back, “Your attempt to squeeze some alleged performance issues into the phrase ‘conduct as a legal ground for such termination’ is preposterous. More importantly, however, the band thinks long and hard that claiming this fact as a basis for termination also opens the door to a great deal of public scrutiny of the quality of the band’s other members’ performances.” confirmed Thursday dealing with the alleged impersonation that took place on the 2022 tour.
After the November Zoom meeting, Crue’s lawyers made a counter-offer, albeit modest in Mars’ eyes, offering to increase his stake in the 2023 tour from 5% to 7.5%, while also demanding that to part with all interests in the band afterwards.
After Mars refused to sign the papers, the band entered arbitration proceedings. The new filing said the group has filed for arbitration, “rather than a public lawsuit, lest the public become aware of the deplorable manner in which they have treated their 41-year-old ‘brother.’ “
In addition to asking the court for mandatory power of attorney to collect the documents, McPherson is also seeking attorneys’ fees and other costs related to the lawsuit. It is not a claim for damages or a judgment on the issues that would theoretically be addressed in an arbitration. The other band members are not individually named as defendants in the lawsuit, which is filed against Motley Crue Touring Inc., Motley Crue Inc., Red, White & Crue Inc., Masters 2000 Inc., Cruefest LLC, Motley Records LLC, Masters 2008 LLC and unnamed does.