File this under: Stuff I’m going to presume against hope is just a vicious Internet rumor because my ailing heart just couldn’t take it. But yes, Tommy Lee has apparently departed Motley Crue amidst lawsuits against the band’s former manager and claims that reality TV has rendered Lee even more of a lovable dolt than he was before. According to a press release from the band, said former manager, Carl Stubner, was playing fast and loose with the band’s money, even going so far as to hawk the band’s tickets at inflated rates that went right into his own pocket. But moreover, they claim that Stubner’s stewardship of Lee’s career has sullied the good name of the Crue itself:

The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages of more than $20 million for lost earnings and profits resulting from the defendants’ actions. The lawsuit also seeks punitive damages because, as claimed in the amended complaint, the defendants’ “despicable” actions were undertaken “fraudulently, maliciously and oppressively.”

In CRÜE’s original lawsuit, which was filed on June 18 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, three of the group’s founding members (Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil and Mick Mars) through Motley Crue Inc., claimed Stubner forced Tommy Lee to “to become engaged in ‘reality’ projects that were bad career moves for Lee, harming [Sixx, Mars, Neil and Lee], the MÖTLEY CRÜE brand and Lee’s own image.” The suit called the low-rated NBC show “Tommy Lee Goes to College” a “critical disappointment and a ratings disaster,” adding it painted Lee as “incoherent, lazy and incompetent” and made him “look like a laughing stock who could not carry a drum beat.” The suit also claims Lee’s participation on “Rock Star: Supernova” “diminished the public’s interest in Lee and their overall perception of his musical talents.”

Because Lee was so busy doing reality TV, the band says he was unavailable to tour with the CRÜE, thus causing the cancellation of several key concert dates. The band claims that they lost $8 million in ticket and merchandise revenue because of Lee’s scheduling conflicts. The band claims these conflicts were “both real and concocted” by Stubner to “leverage his control over Lee to his financial advantage and to MÖTLEY CRÜE and Lee’s detriment.”

So in the end it wasn’t flaming motorcycle death by misadventure, more drugs than a hijacked Rite Aid delivery truck, collectively drinking enough to permanently blind a bar full of bikers, multiple sex tapes of varying quality, Mick Mars’ addiction to Nerds candy, or big bad grunge that finally capsized Motley Crue but…reality TV. I just don’t know how I’m going to tell my best friend when he gets home tonight.

Tommy Lee Quits Motley Crue [Blabbermouth]