Legendary rockers Mötley Crüe and their former guitarist Mick Mars had a nasty back and forth which led to legal action following Mars’ retirement from touring. Mars filed a lawsuit claiming that the band tried to remove him as a stakeholder in the group once he said he could no longer tour, and that his replacement, John 5, was only supposed to fill in for his spot on the road.
Now the band’s attorney has announced that Mötley Crüe has won “a decisive victory” against Mars that resulted in “a final arbitration award that rejects every claim Mars made against the band and orders him to pay damages back to the group.”
According to a ruling by independent arbitrator Hon. Patrick J. Walsh, Mars has been ordered to pay $1,500,000 in unrecouped tour advances. “Mars was given a $1,500,000 advance in exchange for his agreement to perform 138 shows,” Walsh said. “He understood when he received the advance that it was an advance and that he had to pay it back if he stopped touring. Mars stopped touring. Therefore, he must pay it back. Mars is ordered to pay to MCI [Mötley Crüe Inc] the pro rata rate for the shows he missed between September 2021 and today. He is not required to pay for shows that have not taken place.”
Mars had also claimed that Mötley Crüe wasn’t performing live during their concerts, and the band’s lawyer Sasha Frid said that Mars was forced to admit under oath that his statements were false. “This dispute was about protecting the integrity and legacy of one of the most successful bands in rock history,” Frid said. “With the arbitrator rejecting every claim and enforcing the parties’ agreements as written, the band has been fully vindicated — legally, financially, and factually.”
