New details surrounding the tragic death of 21-year-old Lil Peep have surfaced thanks to a wrongful death lawsuit filed against First Acess Entertainment (FAE) and others by the late rapper's mother, Liza Womack, Pitchfork reports.
Earlier this week, the outlet shared that a 372-page document of evidence had recently been filed by lawyers, including "inculpatory" text messages, among other damning evidence. "The vigour with which FAE and Mercer fought to shield this information from the public record speaks volumes as to the inculpatory nature of these text messages," attorney Paul Matiasiac said.
Lil Peep's Wrongful Death Case Unveils Texts From "Drug-Infected Mismanagement"">Victor Boyko/Getty Images
According to Complex, in October of 2021, lawyers for both FAE and tour manager Belinda Mercer asked for multiple pages of documents – including the aforementioned texts – to be sealed. Following this, Womack's representation argued that the documents aided in the telling of a story of "the drug-infected mismanagement" that, as they claim, "led to [Peep's] death."
Last month, a judge determined that the papers in question didn't require sealing, apart from a handful of redactions. In fact, excerpts are now being made public, painting a picture of just how broad the scope of the wrongful death lawsuit has been.
At the end of 2017, Peep was set to head out on what would ultimately become his final tour, where he was found dead on his bus on November 15th due to an accidental drug overdose.
The texts at the center of the report date back to September 25th of the same year, with Womack's legal team arguing that they prove the U.S. tour was "mishandled" by FAE and Mercer, who has been described as the "tour drug dealer."
"What these documents mostly contain are exchanges that reveal FAE tour management as dangerous, discordant, inept, and engaged in conduct that contributed to [Peep]’s death," Peep's mom's lawyers have reportedly said.
Later this week, a hearing on FAE's motion for summary judgment in the case will take place – check back in with HNHH then for any updates. RIP Peep.