Lil Peep‘s mother has pledged to get justice in the ongoing legal fight surrounding the late rapper’s death.
The Pennsylvania artist, whose real name was Gustav Elijah Åhr, died at the age of 21 on November 15, 2017. The cause of death was ruled a month later as an accidental overdose of fentanyl and Xanax.
Peep’s mother Liza Womack filed a lawsuit against her son’s team back in October 2019, which claimed wrongful death, negligence and breach of contract. The suit named Bryant Ortega, a member of the rapper’s management team First Access Entertainment, and his former tour manager Belinda Mercer.
According to the lawsuit, Peep was “stressed, overwhelmed, burnt out, exhausted and physically unwell” at the time of his death. It was also claimed that those implicated in the suit pushed the rapper perform “stage after stage in city after city, plying and propping” him with drugs.
First Access denied the allegations after the lawsuit first went public, saying that the claim it was “somehow responsible for, complicit in, or contributed to [Peep’s] death is categorically untrue”.
In February this year, the management company claimed Peep’s death was “self-inflicted” and said that they couldn’t be responsible for Womack’s “adult son’s risky behaviour”.
“Mr. Ahr was an adult. He chose to take the drugs that killed him. Arm’s length business associates should not be strapped with a duty to protect each other from self-inflicted harm,” a statement from First Access read.
According to court documents (via Pitchfork), a jury date is now set for November 10.
“I want justice for Gus,” Womack told the publication in a new interview. “That’s why I’m doing this. Whatever form it takes, what I’m looking for is for people to be held accountable for their behaviour.”
Womack says in her complaint that Peep told his tour manager in the 24 hours prior to his death that he did not want to perform live. They allegedly then told the artist he would need to get “sick” in order for the cancelled show to be covered by their insurance policy.
Peep’s mother also alleges that the tour managers pushed Peep to take Xanax before telling promoters that the artist was too ill to perform. However, it is said that Peep subsequently shared a video of himself taking Xanax on social media.
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His team then contacted the promoters to confirm the show would go ahead as planned, and allegedly instructed the rapper to post a video of himself to assure fans he was in good health.
Speaking to Pitchfork, Womack said she was “not giving up, ever” in her fight for justice. “If people are held accountable for their actions, I will feel that justice has been done,” she explained.
Womack was also asked about First Access suing her for breach of contract last October due to her selling posthumous Lil Peep merchandise.
Explaining that it wouldn’t be “appropriate” to speak about that at present, she added: “I can tell you my wrongful death suit is about a person. This is about my son, and it’s about how I was treated, and how people need to be treated and shouldn’t be treated.”
The post Lil Peep’s mother vows to get justice in ongoing legal battle: “I’m not giving up, ever” appeared first on NME.
