Tommy Lee Does Not Want To Take A Picture With You
Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee doesn’t want to take a picture with you. The 80s rocker took to Facebook recently to explain to his fans that he doesn’t owe them anything and that he’s sick of posing for photos.
Lee starts his message off by telling his fans that he LOVES them.
“I fucking LOVE my fans! And you know this!!!… If you asked anyone that knows me really well they would tell ya the same thing…Tommy loves his fans. He lives for this shit…he eats, breaths, shits music 24/7. They’ll also probably tell ya that he’s a down to earth grateful life lovin dude and a nice guy too.”
Once Lee is done patting himself on the back, he gets into his rant about fan photos.
Lee writes:
“What I have a problem with is… Taking pictures! I hate it! Irritates the fuck out of me when people say…you owe it to your fans, they put you where you are, etc etc! I certainly dont owe anybody anything! When I bought all my Led Zeppelin records and concert tickets I didn’t say “one day these fuckers are gonna owe me a picture” It’s the least they can do for me!…wtf people? You dont admire something so that it can give back… You just cherish it! And to those who say..you should be grateful that people wanna take your picture maybe one day they wont want it!…”
Lee goes on to say that he isn’t paid to take photos with fans. He’s paid to entertain.
Lee writes that the thing that bothers him most about taking fan photos is that people don’t consider the “situation.”
Lee writes:
“Ya wouldn’t wanna handshake standing at the pisser in the mens bathroom next to me would ya?… And Yes thats happened to me too… Or when your eating a nice quite meal with your family some rude jackass comes up and asks for a picture! You cant even imagine what kinda crazy has happened to me. I understand the excitement and all but just take a second and think… Is this cool right now?”
The Facebook post drew both criticism and support. Some fans are offended that Lee things his “hard work” is the sole reason for his success while others admit that Lee is a musician first and doesn’t have to take photos with his fans.
Lee’s band Motley Crue posted a followup message standing behind their drummer.
Motley Crue wrote:
“His job – the one his fans are (hopefully) paying him to do – is playing music and giving a stage show. It is not being their eternal picture-posing servant. Being able to take a picture with a musician isn’t a right – its good will on their part.”
Motley Crue tries to take a more civilized approach, saying that fans need to see that when Tommy and the rest of the band are out in public it’s basically their “time off” and they don’t want to be harassed by fans.
Of course, Motley Crue didn’t do that great of a job to calm the anger. Especially since they called their fans beggars.
“How do you typically deal with beggars (yes, a fan that approaches their idol in a private situation is essentially begging)? How about the drunk who’s feeling talkative and decides that you are the person he needs to share his innermost thoughts with? Annoyed? Just a little? Then think twice before making a nuisance of yourself. Musicians really don’t owe you anything – not even music. It’s great that you bought the album (you did buy it, didn’t you?), but that doesn’t suddenly mean that the band is in your debt, any more than buying that iPhone entitled you to crash the late Steve Jobs’ kitchen and raid his fridge.”
What do you think? Do celebrities have a certain duty to their fans? Do they “owe” their fans a few pictures?
