Netflix’s movie about Mötley Crüe, “The Dirt,” is based on a book about true story but is it factually accurate?
The answer is kind of. Nikki Sixx now claims the book was, “possibly greatly embellished” and he was on drugs most of the time so maybe it’s not exactly how it happened. The good news is, though, that it’s a great story and the film breaks the fourth wall to admit to the audience that maybe things happened a little differently. But who cares, it’s Mötley Crüe.
Here are the 7 most glaring inconsistencies with what really happened.
- Tommy Lee’s First Encounter With Nikki Sixx Is a Bit Off in the movie their meeting at Denny’s was accidental after Tommy saw Nikki’s band London play – in reality they met there specifically to talk about the band after Nikki saw Tommy play with Suite 19.
- It Erases Their Original Lead Singer From History Vince Neil wasn’t yet their singer. It was a fellow named O’Dean Peterson who, but Nikki didn’t like his attitude and Mick Mars thought he was a hippie, so they threw him out and history has basically forgotten that he ever existed.
- They Didn’t Meet Vince Neil at a Backyard Party where he was singing Billy Squier’s “My Kind of Lover” with a cover band (Let’s overlook the fact that “My Kind of Lover” wasn’t even out at the time.) Vince was in a cover band but the first meeting took place at The Starwood in West Hollywood. And they didn’t play “Live Wire” at their first jam because Nikki hadn’t written the song yet.
- They didn’t get signed that easily. In real life, the band created their own label, Leathür Records, solely to put out their own music before they ever met Zutaut. When he initially approached the band, they were very suspicious and made him buy many, many dinners throughout the long courtship. They were also accepting offers from Virgin before Zutaut did eventually sign them to Elektra.
- Tommy Didn’t Meet Heather Locklear The Night of Vince’s Car Accident they actually met backstage at an REO Speedwagon concert after his accountant introduced them. It is true though that he initially confused her with Heather Thomas from The Fall Guy.
- They Didn’t Fire Doc McGhee Over An Incident With Nikki’s Estranged Mother it happened over the Moscow Peace Festival in 1989 – He told them everyone would play truncated, no-frills sets. But when they showed up, not only were they placed on the bill prior to all the other acts, but Bon Jovi were doing a full set and had pyro. They fired McGhee on the spot.
- Tommy Lee married Pam Anderson in 1995 after knowing her for just four days, had two children, a sex tape, Hep C AND he was arrested for assaulting her and spent six months in prison. All of this insanity got about 10,000 times more attention than anything the band did in the Nineties, but there’s not even a single mention of her name in the movie.
[h/t rollingstone]
