Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee is being sued by a woman who claims that she was sexually assaulted during a February 2003 helicopter flight in Calif., numerous sources confirm.
Per NME (on Dec. 16), the woman – “identified only as Jane Doe” – contends in her suit (filed on Dec. 15) that Lee “lured her to his personal helicopter ‘under false pretences’. She went on a 40-minute trip from San Diego to Van Nuys with Lee’s personal helicopter pilot before Lee joined them when they landed.”
From there, she continues [via NME], the two men “consumed several alcoholic beverages, smoked marijuana, and snorted cocaine”; then, Lee “proceeded to sexually assault [her] by forcibly groping, kissing, penetrating her with his fingers, and attempting to force her to perform oral copulation.”
As reported by Rolling Stone (on Dec. 16), Doe says that she met the pilot – “identified as David Martz” – “around early 2002 when he patronized the San Diego bank where she was working as a teller.” Rolling Stone adds:
The two struck up a friendship and would occasionally meet for lunch at a restaurant called Casa Machado, the filing claims. Martz invited the woman to ride in his helicopter, but she was hesitant at first because she had never ridden in one before, the lawsuit states. Eventually, the woman agreed, and in early 2003, she met Martz at an airfield for what she thought would be a sightseeing trip around San Diego County, she says. Upon arrival, the woman claims she was told there was a last-minute change of plans and she and Martz would be flying Lee up to Los Angeles instead.
“Within a matter of minutes of being airborne, Martz pulled out alcohol he had stored in the helicopter and began to mix drinks,” the complaint alleges. The woman says Martz handed her a drink that she did not consume. . . . At one point, Martz asked her through the helicopter’s headphone system why she was not drinking and stated that she should ‘just relax,’” the lawsuit alleges. The woman claims Martz eventually ordered her up to the cockpit to sit on Lee’s lap to get the best view. Feeling “immense pressure,” she acquiesced, the filing states. Almost immediately, Lee began groping and kissing her, she claims, and when she attempted to pull away, “he only became more forceful.”
“At one point, Lee penetrated plaintiff with his fingers while fondling her breasts. Lee then pulled down his pants and attempted to force plaintiff’s head toward his genitals. By this point, plaintiff was in tears, but she had nowhere to go — she was trapped with little mobility to leave the cockpit,” the lawsuit alleges.
The woman claims Martz “merely watched” the alleged assault and said nothing to her as they flew back to San Diego after dropping Lee in Van Nuys. The plaintiff says she had no contact with Martz for several years but spoke to him by phone in June 2009 when he called to catch up. The conversation was very short, and then Martz died in a Cessna accident in August 2015, the filing states.
The woman says the alleged attack caused her “great shock, distress, humiliation, shame and guilt,” and that she didn’t report it because she believed it was an isolated event and that police wouldn’t take her seriously. She now believes Martz and Lee “had a history of engaging in indecent and illegal conduct on Martz’s helicopter,” the lawsuit says.
The complaint, filed by lawyers Neville Johnson, Douglas Johnson, and Melissa Eubanks, alleges sexual assault, gender violence , intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. In addition to Lee, it names Mayhem Touring, Tommy Lee Inc., A Natural High Helicopters and Social Helicopters as defendants. The woman is seeking past, present, and future damages, including but not limited to medical expenses, loss of earnings, and loss of earnings capacity.
According to NME, those damages are “unspecified.”
Rolling Stone also clarifies that the suit “isn’t the first instance of Martz facing allegations of flying under the influence,” elaborating:
The Associated Press reported in 2009 that the pilot was detained on suspicion of DUI after he allegedly flew too close to a police helicopter and failed to follow directions given to him by the Van Nuys Airport flight tower. He was released without arrest after a sobriety test was inconclusive. After Martz died in 2015, the Los Angeles Times reported that he’d lost his pilot’s license three times in the past, with one of the revocations resulting from allegations he had oral sex with an adult film star while flying a helicopter. The pilot was charged with reckless operation of an aircraft in 2006 after he landed a helicopter on a public street in the Hollywood Hills to pick up Lee for a Nine Inch Nails concert, The Times reported.
Per the Los Angeles Times (on Dec. 16), “Lee’s representatives did not immediately responded to requests for comment. The firm representing Jane Doe declined to comment on active litigation.” Likewise, Vanity Fair wrote (on Dec. 16) that they’ve “contacted Johnson and Johnson, the legal firm that filed the suit, as well as Lee’s attorney. Neither side has responded to a request for comment as of publication time.”
As of this writing, neither Tommy Lee nor Mötley Crüe have posted about the allegations on social media.READ MORE: Nikki Sixx Shares Rough Timetable for New Motley Crue Music
As also noted by Vanity Fair, Lee has faced several prior accusations of illicit behavior over the past few decades.
For instance, “In 1996, he faced battery allegations for an altercation outside the infamous L.A. nightclub, the Viper Room.” Two years later, “he was jailed after pleading no contest to domestic violence allegations brought by then-wife Pamela Anderson. The following year, he turned himself in to officials in North Carolina, where he’d been wanted for felony rioting and three misdemeanor charges since 1997.”
Back in 2019, Loudwire reported on bassist Nikki Sixx apologizing [via an interview with Rolling Stone] “for a story of sexual assault included in The Dirt. In the Crue memoir, Sixx recalled having sex with a woman, but having Tommy Lee switch places with him halfway through the romp without the woman’s knowledge.”
The book also saw Sixx reflect: “I had probably gone too far. I hadn’t raped her. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I pretty much had. I was in a zone, though, and in that zone, consequences did not exist. Besides, I was capable of sinking even lower than that.”
During the interview, however, Sixx also denied that the incident ever happened:
I don’t actually recall that story in the book beyond reading it. I have no clue why its in there other than I was outta my head and it’s possibly greatly embellished or [I] made it up. Those words were irresponsible on my part. I am sorry. There is a lot of horrible behavior in the book. What I can tell you is that we all lived to regret a lot and learned from it. We own up to all our behavior that hurt our selves, our families, friends and any innocents around us.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, resources are available for help. Visit the RAINN website (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network) or dial 800-656-HOPE (800-656-4673).
Motley Crue: A Timeline of Their Storied Career
A photo timeline of Motley Crue’s career.
Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner
