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SANTA MONICA (CNS) - Beverly Hills-based Live Nation Entertainment Inc. is being sued by two Southern California residents and a third from Arizona, who allege they were injured in a stampede of panicking fans during the 2022 Lovers & Friends Music Festival in Las Vegas who thought a noise they heard was gunfire.
The May 14 concert attended by plaintiffs James Thomas and Carla Thomas of San Bernardino County and Aaliyah Aguilar of Tempe, Arizona featured Usher, Lil Kim, Ciara, Akon, T-Pain and Sean Paul. The three maintain the concert had insufficient security and medical personnel present.
The plaintiffs seek unspecified damages from Live Nation, which promoted the event, as well as other entities associated with providing security and medical care. A Live Nation representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the Santa Monica Superior Court suit filed Tuesday.
Aguilar and Carla Thomas were sitting on the concrete ground during a lull between performances when a loud sound led many of the more than 31,000 in attendance to believe they had heard gunfire, the suit states.
"A sea of people ... then surged toward plaintiffs' location, pushing plaintiffs against the other attendees in the festival," the suit states.
The plaintiffs were then "pushed, smashed, dragged, kicked, stepped on, trampled and crushed to the ground" by the surging crowd, leaving them feeling "frightened, shocked, anxious and light-headed," the suit states.
The plaintiffs screamed for help from the event organizers and security, but none came and they were eventually able to get out of the festival grounds to safety, the suit states.
All of the plaintiffs were injured and Carla Thomas and Aguilar needed emergency medical care, the suit states. The three suffered fear of death as well as anxiety and depression, the suit states.