Photo Credit: Europapress / CC by 4.0
Lil Peep’s mother, Liza Womack, has settled her wrongful death lawsuit against First Access Entertainment, ending their multi-year legal battle.
The legal battle over responsibility for Lil Peep’s fatal drug overdose at age 21 has ended more than five years after it began. According to a notice filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the rapper’s mother, Liza Womack, has settled her wrongful death lawsuit against First Access Entertainment (FAE). FAE is the management and label services company that worked with Lil Peep, whose real name was Gustav Elijah Åhr.
According to Womack’s lawyer, Paul Matiasic, the settlement terms were confidential. The court filing shows that the settlement was dated February 14, while a trial was scheduled to begin on March 8.
“Liza has been indefatigable in her pursuit of justice for her son,” said Matiasic. “With the conclusion of the litigation, her focus will shift to shepherding his legacy and continuing to release his music for the enjoyment of his fans.”
“Today, Gus’s music came home,” begins a statement on Lil Peep’s social media pages. “From this day forward, his music will be in the care of his mother and brother and no one else.”
Womack initially filed the lawsuit in October 2019 — nearly two years after her son’s death — alleging wrongful death, negligence, and breach of contract against FAE, manager Bryant Ortega, and tour manager Belinda Mercer.
In January 2022, texts and documents unsealed in court showed Womack’s lawyers asserting the “dysfunctional, lethal state” of the tour during which Peep died in 2017. In February, Judge Teresa Beaudet ruled that the case against FAE and Mercer go forward while dismissing most of the claims against Ortega.
Court documents in 2021 show that Mercer denied any involvement leading to Peep’s death, while FAE previously called Womack’s lawsuit “groundless and offensive.” Ortega has called the allegations against him “baseless, misguided, and without merit.”
Lil Peep released only one studio album during his lifetime, Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt. 1. The sequel record, Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt. 2, and the compilation album, Everybody’s Everything, were shared posthumously. Womack has recently been re-releasing her son’s self-released material, including Crybaby, Live Forever, and Hellboy.