Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee has received quite a bit of flack recently after posting an open letter on his Facebook page asking his fans to back off a bit and stop asking him to take pictures with him everywhere he goes. While on the surface, it might not reflect well on Lee, a new story puts that request in a whole new perspective.

In a new interview with Fuse, Lee recalls a recent incident that may have been the impetus to put him over the edge. Lee’s mother recently passed away, and as he was picking up her ashes, things got a little inappropriate. Lee explains, “I was picking up her ashes to take them home with me to do a service for my mother. And so I’m at the mortuary, I’ve got my mom’s ashes in my right hand, and my girlfriend, I’m holding her hand with my left hand, and we’re walking out. And the f—ing lady, the receptionist, goes, ‘Oh my god, can I take a picture with you?’ And I looked and her and went [takes a deep breath], ‘I’m sorry, but I’d rather not.”

The eager fan didn’t really want to take no for an answer though, asking him again. Lee continued, “Then she was like, ‘Are you sure?’ And I couldn’t even believe it — she asked me if I was sure. I’m f—ing standing there with my mom’s ashes and it’s not the f—ing happiest day on the planet for me. I couldn’t believe it. I go, ‘Okay, that’s officially the most f—ed up thing that has ever happened to me.’ I called the manager and said, ‘You’re not going to believe what just happened. I don’t expect you to fire her or anything like that, but that was the most disrespectful bulls— I’ve ever experienced in my life.’”

It probably goes without saying that a mortuary isn’t the best place to be requesting fan photos, but Lee did sum up his story with some friendly advice: “Don’t be absolutely selfish and insane by pushing grieving people for photographs.”

And for everyone judging Lee for his photo rant, he raises a good point: “When stars complain about being hassled by fans too much, know that they probably have a few reasons to be wary.” It surely seems Lee had a very good reason this time around.

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