House of Blues sued over sloppy stage dive

By Steven Dahlman

(Left) Rap artist A$AP Rocky.

May 8, 2014 – A Chicago woman is suing House of Blues, claiming she was struck by a flying rapper at an A$AP Rocky concert in 2012.

Tia Butts, who was 19 years old at the time, says at the hip hop show in River North on May 3, 2012, a performer – she is not sure exactly who – jumped off the stage and landed on her. She was taken by ambulance to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and, says her attorney, treated for injuries to her head, neck, lower back, and right knee.

Butts filed her lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court on May 2. She is seeking $50,000, claiming HOB “neglected to maintain a safe environment for the patrons.”

Besides HOB, defendants include Live Nation Worldwide, owner of House of Blues, Ticketmaster Entertainment, RSVP Gallery, Been Trill, Rakim Mayers, and A$AP Rocky. Ticketmaster sells tickets to Live Nation events. RSVP Gallery is a Chicago company that sells clothing and is described in the lawsuit as the concert promoter. Been Trill is a representative of artists and DJs.

A$AP Rocky is the stage name of Rakim Mayers. The 25-year-old Harlem-born rapper’s debut studio album, Long. Live. ASAP hit #1 on the Billboard 200 chart of best-selling albums.

Rocky, who is also a noted record producer, has been arrested for brawls with other rap artists. In 2012 he was arrested for assaulting a man at a clothing store in New York and two amateur photographers who filmed the incident. Assault and robbery charges were later dropped in a plea deal.

[This case was settled on January 13, 2016.]

HOB beats one lawsuit but party in one other

HOB Chicago Inc. is currently a co-defendant in one other lawsuit in Cook County. A $50,000 premises liability lawsuit was filed by James McGinley on November 26, 2013, against HOB and Sysco Chicago Inc., a food distributor, and has a status hearing scheduled for June 5.

For more than six months, HOB was involved with James Corrigan’s $30,000 lawsuit over a towing company’s sign he says he tripped over at Marina City in 2011. Among other parties, Corrigan is suing Phillips Towing Service, Smith & Wollensky, LaSalle Hotel Properties, owner of commercial property at Marina City, Transwestern, the commercial property manager, and Marina Towers Condominium Association.

HOB was added as a defendant on April 17, 2013, and its motion to dismiss on November 5, 2013, was granted two days later. A court date of June 26 has been scheduled for the remaining defendants.