Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars stepped down from the band in October 2022, with his representative citing Mars' worsening ankylosing spondylitis as the reason. Rumors began to swirl in 2023 that Mars and his Mötley Crüe bandmates weren't getting along, and that there was much more to Mars' departure from the band.
Earlier this month, Mars filed a lawsuit against Mötley Crüe alleging everything from getting screwed over financially to lip-synched performances throughout certain tours. Mötley Crüe swiftly responded, saying Mars is off-base with his accusations, that he owes the band money, and that he's the one that was playing poorly live. Which of course Mars vehemently disagreed with, adding that Mötley Crüe has been trying to fire him for decades.
Now in a new interview with Variety, longtime Crüe manager Allen Kovac slammed Mars' representatives. Kovac said "What's upsetting to me is not Mick, but his representatives, who have guided Mick to say and do harmful things to the brand he cares about so much, Mötley Crüe. He has a degenerative disease and people are taking advantage of him. It's called elder abuse."
"Mick's representatives have no idea what they've created, but I've stopped the band from speaking about this, so they're not gonna turn the fans against Mick. But I am going to make sure that people understand that Mick hasn't been treated badly. In fact, he was treated better than anyone else in the band, and they carried him and they saved his life."
Kovac also mentioned that the real victims of this whole situation are "Mötley Crüe and the brand, which Mick is so prideful of."
Mars' attorney Edwin F. McPherson has a slightly different take on Crüe's allegations. In the same interview, McPherson questions the integrity of the statements from Mötley Crüe employees regarding the quality of Mars' playing in their statement last week. McPherson states it's "interesting that these declarations about Mick's playing are from employees of Mötley Crüe, who rely on the band for their livelihood. I noticed that there are no declarations from anyone about the other members' playing – or not playing."
McPherson also points out that it's strange Mötley Crüe is so focused on Mick allegedly "not playing," later saying that the lawsuit "is not about whether or not Mick can still play. It is not even about whether the other band members are playing anything at all. But if you are going to gather disparaging declarations from employees, and kick someone out of the band for not playing properly — ironically, after he tells you that he can no longer handle touring anymore — you better get out of your glass house."
