Mom of 'Emo Rapper' Sues Over His Death

Lil Peep died of a drug overdose at age 21, and nearly two years after the death of the "emo rapper" on a tour bus, his mother is suing. Liza Womack says in her suit that her son was "stressed, overwhelmed, burnt out, exhausted and physically unwell" before he died, but that instead of getting him help, his managers "propp[ed]" him up with drugs in order to get him "onto stage after stage in city after city," performing even when he was in a "comatose-like state." The lawsuit against talent agency and label First Access Entertainment and some of its employees alleges negligence, breach of contract, and wrongful death, and seeks unspecified damages. The defendants have not yet commented publicly, but FAE's CEO has previously denied giving Lil Peep drugs. Lil Peep's cause of death was found to have been a combination of fentanyl and alprazolam (Xanax), TMZ reports.

Lil Peep, born Gustav Ahr, "was on the forefront of a genre-bending movement and seemed on the verge of mainstream fame" when he died, per the New York Times. He had been signed to First Access at 19. Womack says he was given both illegal drugs and unprescribed controlled drugs; TMZ specifically lists Xanax and Ketamine, and recounts a story from the lawsuit in which Womack claims Lil Peep was once gifted a bottle of pills by one of his managers during a group dinner. She says that on the night he died, people associated with FAE saw him looking "alarmingly unwell" but did not contact authorities. The Times notes that while a number of musicians have overdosed on opioids in recent years, this suit "is the first recent case in which an artist’s family has attempted to hold the music business itself responsible." Billboard notes that Womack and FAE worked together last year to release a posthumous Lil Peep album. (Three people have been arrested in connection with Mac Miller's death.)