Compliance June 20, 2007
Bad Move?
Sooner or later, we all make what appears to be, in hindsight anyway, a bad career move.
Reported by Nevin E. Adams
Well, the popular 1980s rock band Motley Crue thinks they made one – or maybe two. And, no, we’re not talking about that infamous Tommy Lee/Pamela Anderson video, or lead singer Vince Neil’s short-lived solo career.
The band—which enjoyed hits with “Girls, Girls, Girls,” “Doctor Feelgood”, and “Same Ol’ Situation’—is suing Carl Stubner and the company he works for (Sanctuary Group) for more than $20 million—claiming he pushed drummer Tommy Lee into doing two disastrous reality shows that took him away from the group and forced the cancellation of dozens of concerts.
The suit, filed earlier this week in Superior Court in Los Angeles, claimed fraud and breach of fiduciary duties. The suit claimed that, beginning in 2005, Stubner and Sanctuary got Lee involved in “bad career moves” including the (blissfully) short-lived reality TV show “Tommy Lee Goes to College.”
The Associated Press reports that the show was “a ratings disaster” that portrayed Lee as “incoherent, lazy and incompetent,” disruptive in classes, and unable to keep a beat in a school marching band, according to the suit. The suit also cited the failure of “Rock Star: Supernova.’
Acts of Commission?
Advisers are sometimes accused of being influenced by commission structures. Well, the Motley Crue suit contends that these TV shows were part of a “self-serving scheme” to promote Lee’s personal work at the expense of the group—because Stubner got a higher commission for solo projects. Stubner, who acts as Tommy Lee’s manager (his company apparently represents the band as a whole), did not make Lee available for a 2006 European tour, forcing Motley Crue to cancel 40 concerts at an estimated $8 million loss in ticket and merchandising sales, the suit said.
The suit also contends that Stubner demanded 100 free tickets for Motley Crue shows, which he resold at “scalper” prices.