Last year, the Weeknd launched his global After Hours Til Dawn Tour, which continues next month with dates in Latin America. Backdropped by an apocalyptic 3D cityscape, the set features a massive stage on one end of the stadium floor, a long runway with a circular stage at the center, and a diamond-shaped, smaller stage at the other end of the floor. On August 14, 2022, the Weeknd’s tour brought him to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where he performed in front of about 60,000 people at the home of the Dallas Cowboys. Now, a stagehand has sued live music giant Live Nation Entertainment after allegedly having his leg run over by a forklift during preparations for the show.
According to a complaint filed on Monday in Dallas County District Court, Steve Genovese was working on August 9, 2022, for a company that contracted with Live Nation to construct the stage for the Weeknd’s AT&T Stadium concert when the accident occurred. “While marking the floor for the stage dimensions, [Genovese] was run over by a forklift which was being operated by another worker on site,” the complaint reads. “As a result, [he] suffered severe, excruciatingly painful and permanently disabling injuries to his leg. The flesh and muscle were torn away from [his] leg and were detached from the bones.”
Along with Live Nation, the lawsuit names several other defendants, including the concert promoter C3 Presents, David Weise & Associates (a business management firm that has worked with the Weeknd), and Cowboys Stadium, LP, which operates the AT&T Stadium complex. The Weeknd is not a party to the case.
The complaint alleges five counts of civil liability including negligence, negligent hiring, and gross negligence. “Defendants had the knowledge, ability, and duty to prevent the severe and life-altering injuries inflicted on [Genovese],” the complaint asserts. “Instead, [they] placed more value on their own financial gain than on the safety of the workers who helped put on The Weeknd concert.”
Specifically, the complaint claims that Live Nation and its subcontractors “failed and refused to provide qualified forklift drivers and adequate staff as agreed in their respective contracts.” The complaint alleges that the forklift driver was operating the forklift because Live Nation and the other defendants “gave the ‘go-ahead’ to commence work without the necessary number of stagehands, staff, forklifts, forklift operators and EMS [emergency medical services] personnel being present.”
Due to the alleged lack of an ambulance or EMS personnel, according the complaint, Genovese’s “medical care and transport to the hospital [were] significantly delayed—further exacerbating his severe and life-altering injuries.” The complaint continues: “[Genovese] spent more than a month in the hospital where he underwent numerous surgeries to save his leg, which is now horrifically and permanently disfigured and impaired.”
Genovese is seeking damages related to his alleged medical expenses, pain, suffering, anguish, distress, loss of earnings, attorney’s fees, and more.
Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Live Nation, the Dallas Cowboys, C3 Presents, David Weise & Associates, and the Weeknd for comment. The lawsuit was first surfaced by Law.com Radar.