Motley Crue Accuses Manager of Dirty Dealings

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Motley Crue Accuses Manager of Dirty Dealings
06/19/2007
E! Online

Mötley Crüe is claiming that Rock Star made Tommy Lee look like less of a rock star.

The Dr. Feelgood band sued one of their managers Monday, claiming that Carl Stubner made business decisions with his own interests in mind and gave Lee bad career advice, which in turn tarnished the group's image.

Not only did Lee's participation in the reality shows Tommy Lee Goes to College on NBC and Rock Star: Supernova on CBS get in the way of Mötley Crüe's 2005 Red, White & Crue tour and plans to record a new studio album, costing the band's annual revenue to fall to only $19 million in 2006, but the NBC series' "inane overtones" made Lee look "incoherent, lazy and incompetent," alleges the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. (View the complaint.)

The show, which debuted in 54th place in the Nielsens and portrayed Lee disrupting classes, consistently arriving late for—and struggling through—marching band practice and supposedly hitting on his college-age tutor damaged the reputation that he earned "through years of great effort and hard work with Mötley Crüe," the band states in court documents obtained by E! News.

Plaintiffs Lee, Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil and Mick Mars allege that Stubner and his company, Sanctuary Management Group, over-promoted Lee's unsuccessful side projects while dropping the ball with Mötley Crüe, which, per the complaint, grossed more than $30 million on its worldwide Red, White & Crüe tour but sustained damages because Lee was not available at the band's disposal, causing them to perform fewer dates.

Lee's packed schedule also prevented him from promptly joining his band mates in the studio in 2006 to record an album that, per an agreement they had with Wal-Mart, was supposed to be released this year.

Stubner, meanwhile, maintains that he never worked for the band or any of its members, besides Lee, in the first place.

"Mr. Stubner and Sanctuary continue to manage Tommy Lee and make no apology for having effectively managed, promoted and furthered Tommy's career with great success," Sanctuary spokesman Kevin Chiaramonte said in a statement.

"Mr. Stubner and Sanctuary will vociferously defend this lawsuit which is utterly and entirely without merit or basis."

The lawsuit states, however, that Stubner acknowledged during a meeting at his office in December 2005 that Lee was "overexposed" and agreed that Lee should be "exclusively available" to record, tour and film a movie supporting the tour.

But, then came Rock Star: Supernova in 2006, and Lee's unavailability supposedly forced Mötley Crüe to cancel 40 shows and lose more than $8 million in ticket and merchandise sales.

The show's lackluster ratings and the so-so success Supernova achieved after the fact "diminished the public's interest in Lee and their overall perception of his musical talents," the lawsuit reads.

"Stubner's motivation was greed. He has brazenly said as much," the "Girls, Girls, Girls" guys claim. "Stubner stated that he received significantly higher commissions on Lee's solo projects because he did not have to share his take with the other managers. (The band has two other managers, neither of whom is named in the suit.)

"He claimed that it was a 'no brainer' to prefer and promote Lee's projects over those of Mötley Crüe."

According to the lawsuit, Stubner told the band that he'd only make Lee readily available for tour dates if they and the other managers agreed to increase his commission. The defendant also demanded 100 comped tickets per show and then sold them at "scalper" prices, Sixx, Lee, Neil and Mars allege.

The platinum-selling rockers, who also claim that Stubner's "extortion" is jeopardizing their 2007 tour, are asking for more than $20 million in damages for breach of fiduciary duty and constructive fraud.