Reports by TMZ suggest that Motley Crue has filed new legal paperwork asking a judge to send the band’s dispute with founding guitarist Mick Mars into arbitration, where Crue’s attorneys say it belongs.
Details on the filing
In the filing, the attorneys say several different entities have been created over the years to handle varying aspects of the band’s business affairs, including touring and recording, and those agreements contain binding arbitration clauses. Therefore, they argue that all grievances that might come up among members must be handled in private arbitration, instead of airing them out in public courts.
Crue is also asking the court to strike several statements Mick made in his suit, particularly provocative assertions about ex-bandmates that include claims of substance abuse and physical violence which they call totally irrelevant to Mick’s case. They believe he included them purely “for purposes of character assassination.”
In response to Motley Crue’s latest filing, Mick’s lawyer, Ed McPherson, told TMZ: “This is yet another attempt by bullies to hide the truth!”
Last year in October 2022, John 5 departed Rob Zombie’s band to become a part of Motley Crue as he replaced Mick Mars as the guitarist struggled with health issues.
The split seemed amicable enough until last month when Mars sued the band for his share of the profits, accusing bassist Nikki Sixx of “gaslighting” him into thinking that his mental faculties were declining and that memory loss was preventing him from playing the songs properly. Mars also added that the hair metal legends extensively used backing tracks, claiming that Nikki didn’t play live at well, something that the guitarist was opposed to.
Crue also addressed the issue with a counterstatement reiterating that the guitarist was unfit to perform and stating that there were no backing tracks involved in their performances, which led to many fans and musicians becoming divided between both parties.
