A revived court action has split two of rock’s biggest names, as Motley Crue and Steven Tyler argue over the merits of management and legal teams they’ve shared. The protracted disagreement pits Motley Crue’s longtime manager Allen Kovac against their former lawyer Dina LaPolt, both of whom also worked for Tyler.
It was their legal work for Aerosmith‘s frontman where things got complicated. The issue dates back to 2012, when the Kovac Media Group accused LaPolt of breach of fiduciary duty, among other things, while alleging that LaPolt botched Tyler’s contract negotiations with American Idol. That claim – which states that the Aerosmith singer may have lost as much as $8 million, prompting his exit from the program – was initially dismissed for the most part, before an appeals judge recently reinstated the original suit.
Now, Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars have filed official documents, making statements that are often in direct opposition to what Tyler says.
Sixx called LaPolt “unprofessional” and “not honest” in legal filings, while Mars entered a statement blaming LaPolt for getting Motley Crue mixed up in this ongoing proceeding. Tyler, meanwhile, said that Kovac was “disrespectful and rude to my business associates, insulted and verbally abused my fiancee, my lawyer, my family, my assistants and my accountants. I wanted very much to end the relationship.”
This court action isn’t the only thing keeping them busy. Motley Crue are in the middle of their final tour, while Aerosmith have announced a handful of tour dates scattered throughout the summer.