Mick Mars‘ attorney Ed McPherson has responded to the recent arbitration ruling put forth against his client by Mars‘ former bandmates in Mötley Crüe. Back in 2023, Mars filed suit against the band, after alleging they had unjustly attempted to force him out due to his desire to refrain from long-term touring.
The band alleged that in stepping down from touring, he voided his entitlement to a 25% stake of the band’s touring revenue, as per a governing agreement they had collectively signed back in 2008. Mars disputed that he had left the band however, maintaining that he was still a member studio wise and would be open to playing limited shows, such as residencies and one-offs.
The band went on to present a ‘severance package’ of sorts to Mars, offering him as much as 7.5% of a 2023 tour he would not be partaking in, in exchange for divesting himself of that touring stake. Mars refused that offer. Arbitration ensued, as did an ugly war of words between the two camps. Mars alleged that several of his bandmates had been playing live to backing tracks during their reunion touring in recent years, essentially lip syncing and miming their parts onstage.
His then estranged bandmates fired back with claims that Mars‘ playing abilities had deteriorated to the point where sound engineers were piping in parts of backing tracks on the fly to cover for his diminished abilities. Mars‘ desire to step down from the band came about as his ongoing struggles with Ankylosing Spondylitis continue to hamper his quality of life.
As revealed earlier this week, Mötley Crüe won a decisive victory in that legal dispute via arbitration, with Mars recanting his aforementioned claims against his ex-bandmates. Furthermore, the judge ruled that the band were just in terminating his position in the group, due to his absence at some 69 live performances.
Mars was ordered to repay the band $750,030 from a tour advance, and also ordered that he must sell his ownership stake in the outfit to the other band members for a total of $505,737. That ruling results in a net payment of $244.293 to the band.
Addressing that ruling to Rolling Stone, Mars‘ attorney recently stated:
“The decision is awful. It’s not fair. This band has never been fair to Mick. When Mick said I can’t tour anymore because of a hideous disease, but I can still write, perform one-offs or residencies, and record, they said, ‘Sorry Mick. It’s been 43 years, but you’re out. Goodbye, and we don’t want to pay you anymore.’ This arbitrator said it’s fine. We need to figure out if we’re going to challenge [the decision]. It’s ridiculous. It’s just a question of whether he wants to keep pursuing this. Basically, he’s over Mötley Crüe.”
