Metal Anarchy

There have been some new developments regarding Mick Mars’ legal dispute with Mötley Crüe. That case will be heading to private arbitration later this year.

According to Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant agreed with the assertion that Mötley Crüe failed to share information regarding their business dealings, while trying to remove the guitarist from the band. The ruling says Mars was left with no other option but to sue for access to corporate documents. The judge also said Mars’ legal fees should be covered due to the band taking eight months to make a final document drop.

Chalfant said the following:

“The requests were not burdensome. Yet, Mars was compelled to file suit, and it appears plain that production would not have occurred without it. Mars is entitled to attorney fees.”

He also added that the band claimed a November 2 document drop included “all of the responsive documents,” but that “proved to be wrong.” He cited articles of incorporation and income tax returns that were received in early December. Chalfant continued:

“These documents should have been produced without the need for prodding by Mars. [The] failure to produce the documents earlier than December 8 amounts to a refusal.”

Despite this, the judge also ruled that Mars’ lawsuit is now “moot.” As a result, his recent request for subsequent 2023 general ledger entries won’t be granted. The decision was made due to the paperwork not being included on his November list of still-outstanding documents. Mötley Crüe’s attorney Sasha Frid viewed this as a victory:

“The case is over. That’s the key takeaway. By denying the petition as moot and ending the case, the court found that the band turned over all the documents to Mars and there is nothing more to do. The band went above and beyond its obligations by providing much more documents than the statute required – indeed, the court’s decision explained the thousands of documents that the band provided to Mars.”

However, Mars’ lawyer Ed McPherson disagreed, saying the case is only over due to compliance. He also confirmed that the claim of Mars being illegally removed from the band is still heading into private arbitration. He said the following about the band’s alleged mistreatment of the guitarist:

“Finally, somebody, somewhere told these guys they can’t bully Mick anymore. We’re in the middle of a huge arbitration that will ultimately decide if Mick has to give up his shares or not, if they did things properly or not. Obviously we claim they didn’t do anything properly. But they feel that they’re above the rules. And that’s what this lawsuit was about.

This was them feeling they were above the rules, and this judge saying, ‘No, you’re not. And you may have given all the documents now, so there’s nothing left for me to do, but, you’re going to pay for it. I think that’s a pretty huge victory for Mick. If they want to claim a victory, that’s fine. But this is someone finally telling Mick, ‘No, you’re not crazy. These guys are bullying you. And we’re not going to let it happen.’”

As previously reported, Mars sued the band after claiming that he was asked to sign a severance agreement, which would drop his 25% stake in the band’s business interests to 5% for their 2023 shows and to 0% for future tours. The offer was then upped to 7.5% for 2023 if the guitarist agreed to divest himself from the band and their businesses. He also accused his bandmates of using pre-recorded tracks.

For their part, Mötley Crüe’s management claimed the allegations were part of “a smear campaign.” They also accused Mars’ representatives of “taking advantage of him” and commiting acts of “elder abuse.”