Jeezy and Live Nation have been cleared over the deadly backstage shooting at a California stop on Wiz Khalifa’s Under the Influence Tour in 2014.
According to Billboard, the California Court of Appeal ruled that the Atlanta rapper and Live Nation were not responsible for the death of Eric Johnson Jr., who was shot and killed at the August 22, 2014 show.
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Johnson Jr.’s family filed a subsequent wrongful death lawsuit in 2015 following the fatal shooting, claiming that Live Nation could have prevented the murder if proper security measures were taken.
“A violent attack by and between artists and their guests in the backstage area of a performance is not a foreseeable occurrence against which Live Nation should have provided preventative measures of the nature plaintiffs suggest,” Justice Stuart R. Pollak wrote.
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“The reports did not … indicate that any of the artists or their entourages engaged in or posed any danger of violence during the tour. The head of security also indicated that in her more than 10 years at the amphitheater, there had not been any violent incidents backstage.”
Local police searched Jeezy’s tour bus and found a rifle, which resulted in Jeezy being arrested and charged with illegal possession of a weapon, but the charge was eventually dropped.
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“I pray this had nothing to do with race, but it definitely had nothing to do with evidence,” Jeezy relayed to TMZ at the time. “I knew that the allegations and charges were based on zero facts. I’m relieved that the truth has prevailed.”
No murder charges were ever filed over Johnson Jr.’s death.
Live Nation still faces a similar wrongful death suit related to the December 2021 stabbing of Drakeo The Ruler backstage at the Once Upon a Time music festival in Los Angeles.
In other news, Jeezy is set to hit the road this spring alongside Rick Ross, T.I., 2 Chainz, Jadakiss and former foe Gucci Mane, among others, on the Legendz of the Streetz: Reloaded Tour, which kicks off in New Orleans on February 3.
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The Snowman will also grace the stage at the Atlanta Symphony Hall on Friday (January 27) to perform his 2005 debut album Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 with help from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
