A Los Angeles judge has cut the Los Angeles Football Club and a talent booking company out of a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit filed by relatives of rapper Drakeo the Ruler, trimming the list of defendants tied to security at the Once Upon a Time in L.A. festival where the rapper was fatally stabbed. The case, however, is very much alive against several other promoters and organizers.
Judge Finds No Triable Issues
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Montgomery issued his rulings on Wednesday, finding there were no triable issues against LAFC or Bobby Dee Presents and noting that the plaintiffs did not file an opposition to LAFC's motion. As reported by MyNewsLA, Montgomery said the burden was on the family to show the club had violated any obligation to protect Drakeo. The same report notes that a final status conference in the case is scheduled for Sept. 8.
What The Suit Alleges
The lawsuit, filed in February 2022 on behalf of Drakeo’s young son, targets Live Nation and several co‑promoters for allegedly failing to provide adequate backstage security and committing other safety lapses. According to the Los Angeles Times, the complaint says Drakeo was ambushed after a fight broke out behind the main stage at the Once Upon a Time in L.A. festival on Dec. 18, 2021, and that he later died at a hospital. The court filing, which names Live Nation, C3 Presents, Bobby Dee Presents and Major League Soccer/LAFC among the defendants, asserts claims of negligence, premises liability and wrongful death, according to court records.
Booking Firm Says It Had No Duty
Bobby Dee Presents had already asked earlier this spring to be removed from the lawsuit, filing papers that argued the company did not book Drakeo, had no role in organizing or producing the festival, did not hire security and did not own the land where the concert took place. As reported by MyNewsLA, lawyers for BDP said the firm simply served as booking agent for one of the headliners and should not be held liable for whatever went wrong with backstage security. Montgomery also granted a separate motion in March that removed the University of Southern California from the case, according to that reporting.
Case Moves Forward Against Other Promoters
Live Nation, C3 Presents and promoter Jeff Shuman remain as defendants in the lawsuit, according to the court complaint. The filing characterizes Drakeo’s killing as the result of preventable security failures and seeks damages tied to the wrongful death of Darrell Caldwell, the rapper’s legal name, as laid out in the court papers.
While the latest rulings thin out the roster of defendants, they leave the core accusations about festival security and crowd control in place as the case advances toward pretrial proceedings. The family’s attorneys have framed the civil suit as an effort to hold organizers accountable for festival safety, and the dispute will now move into the next phase of motions and discovery that will determine whether a jury ultimately hears the case.
