Motley Crue Suffer Legal Setback

Band Photo: Motley Crue (?)

According to the ABC Radio Networks, MÖTLEY CRÜE suffered a legal setback Wednesday (August 22) in its case against drummer Tommy Lee's manager Carl Stubner. You may recall that the suit alleges the defendant cost the band millions of dollars and hurt their reputation by advising Lee to appear in his reality flop "Tommy Lee Goes to College" rather than tour with the group. But a judge has ruled that the legal papers don't support a cause of action. He did allow them 20 days to re-file the papers with additional facts.

In CRÜE's lawsuit, which was filed on June 18 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, three of the group's founding members (Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil and Mick Mars) through Motley Crue Inc., claim Stubner forced Tommy Lee to "to become engaged in 'reality' projects that were bad career moves for Lee, harming [Sixx, Mars, Neil and Lee], the MÖTLEY CRÜE brand and Lee's own image." According to TMZ.com, the suit calls the low-rated NBC show "Tommy Lee Goes to College" a "critical disappointment and a ratings disaster," adding it painted Lee as "incoherent, lazy and incompetent" and made him "look like a laughing stock who could not carry a drum beat." The suit also claims Lee's participation on "Rock Star: Supernova" "diminished the public's interest in Lee and their overall perception of his musical talents."

Because Lee was so busy doing reality TV, the band says he was unavailable to tour with the CRÜE, thus causing the cancellation of several key concert dates. The band claims that they lost $8 million in ticket and merchandise revenue because of Lee's scheduling conflicts. The band claims these conflicts were "both real and concocted" by Stubner to "leverage his control over Lee to his financial advantage and to MÖTLEY CRÜE and Lee's detriment."

Source: Blabbermouth