Shortly after former guitarist Mick Mars filed a lawsuit against Mötley Crüe‘s Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, and Tommy Lee on April 6, the band responded to his filing dismissing claims that they forced him out in 2022.
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“Sad day for us and we don’t deserve this, considering how many years we’ve been propping him up,” wrote Sixx on Twitter on April 6. “We still wish him the best and hope he find’s lawyers and managers who aren’t damaging him. We love you Mick.”
Attorneys for the band provided signed declarations from seven members of the touring crew that worked with Mötley Crüe during their final 36-date tour with Mars in 2022. The documents stated that Mars’ performances were subpar, which caused problems within the band and with their surrounding team working with them.
In his lawsuit, 71-year-old Mars, whose real name is Robert Alan Deal, claims that he was fired by the band and that they are preventing him from receiving due profits as a 25 percent stakeholder of Mötley Crüe.
Mars claims that records regarding various Mötley Crüe business dealings are being deliberately withheld from him and that the band demanded that he sign a severance agreement, which would remove him from future interests in return for a five percent stake in the group’s 2023 tour. Along with Mars’ replacement guitarist John 5, Mötley Crüe is currently on a co-headlining world tour with Def Leppard.
An attorney for the band said that Mars ultimately resigned from touring with the band and alleged that he also owed them millions of dollars.
“After the last tour, Mick publicly resigned from Mötley Crüe,” said Sasha Frid, a litigation attorney for the band. “Despite the fact that the band did not owe Mick anything — and with Mick owing the band millions in advances that he did not pay back — the band offered Mick a generous compensation package to honor his career with the band. Manipulated by his manager and lawyer, Mick refused and chose to file this ugly public lawsuit.”
In 2022, it was revealed that Mars could no longer tour with the group as a result of his ongoing battle with ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory disease that can cause some of the bones in the spine to fuse over time, which he has lived with since he was 27. He further stated that he wanted to continue to participate in recordings, concerts, or residencies with Mötley Crüe that didn’t involve excessive travel.
A statement released by the three remaining band members in October of 2022 announced that Mars was retiring from touring and that he would remain an official member of the band, presumably to continue writing and recording with Mötley Crüe.
Responding to the band’s previous statement ”Mick will continue as a member of the band, but can no longer handle the rigors of the road,” their attorney said that Mars “publicly resigned,” and that resigning from touring is ultimately quitting the band.
“Retiring from touring is resigning from the band,” said Frid. “The band’s primary function is to tour and perform concerts. And as you saw from the amendment, if a shareholder resigns, he cannot receive any compensation from touring, which is what Mick is trying to get. It’s clear-cut that Mick is not entitled to any more money.”
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Read the earlier story on Mars’ filing here.
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation
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