Woman Sues Drake After Being Hit In Head By Bottle At Concert And Sustaining Traumatic Brain Injury
She had to skip medical school due to her injuries.
Getty Drake and Madison Square Garden are the defendants in a lawsuit filed by a woman who was in the audience for a show in 2016. While she was there, another audience member threw a beer bottle that struck her in the head, leaving her with permanent injuries. Amanda Giovacco was attending a concert for Drake’s Summer of Sixteen tour when she was struck by the flying beer bottle. The crowd had been getting increasingly rowdy as the concert went on and some people were throwing objects around the venue. Giavacco was hit in the head and wound up with a traumatic brain injury from the incident. She now claims that she has had seizures as a result of the incident and has put her plans to go to medical school on ice.
The suit names The Madison Square Garden, an employee named Joseph Picco and Live Nation Worldwide. Giovacco is seeking unspecified damages.
What happened at the concert and is Drake to blame? Who is Amanda Giavacco? Read on for details.
1. Lawsuit
The papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court allege that: “Amanda Giovacco was violently struck by a beer bottle that was thrown while attending the Drake concert, was maliciously and without just cause provocation, subjected to a battery.” Page Six reports that the suit goes on to claim that Giovacco “sustained a traumatic brain injury and seizures,” both of which are “preventing her from attending medical school.”
The woman was injured in 2016.
2. Long-term effects
Giovacco’s lawyer, Joseph Napoli has said that her “Her future is now precarious,” due to the nature of the head injury she suffered.
The Blast has seen the court papers and reports that the lawsuit says: “plaintiff AMANDA GIOVACCO, became, still is, and for a long time to come, will be sick, sore, lame, bruised, injured, disabled and wounded in about the various parts of her head, limbs, body, blood vessels and surrounding tissues, and has suffered severe and extreme mental shock, anguish and psychic injuries, and that plaintiff was otherwise injured, and upon information and belief, said injuries are permanent. That by reason of the foregoing the plaintiff was obligated to and did necessarily employ medical aid, hospital services, medicinal and medical supplies in an attempt to cure the aforesaid injuries, and has been prevented from her usual duties and will be so prevented for a long time to come.” Compensation for her medical costs is one of the damages she seeks in the suit.
The fan was hit with a flying beer bottle.
3. Prevention
Page Six notes that Napilo told reporters that “Madison Square Garden, the promoter and Drake should have prevented bottles from coming in or circulating within the building and being thrown at a concert.” He blames the venue for serving beverages in bottles rather than in plastic cups, which aren't as dangerous if used as a projectile. Moreover, he cited insufficient security at the event that led to concert-goers consuming too much alcohol and throwing objects. The suit claims that the venue failed to “provide monitoring and surveillance of the premises during the concert so as to prevent aggressive behavior from escalating.”
4. Bottle bans
Bottled beverages have been a source of controversy before. In 2001, The New York Times reported that Giants Stadium banned all bottled beverages after two incidents in which spectators threw bottles onto the field after disputed calls. At some venues, all bottled beverages are given to customers without the cap so that the liquid will pour out if the bottle was thrown, thus reducing the danger of injuring someone.
The singer is named along with Madison Square Garden in the suit.
5. Bottle violence in the past
This isn’t the first time Drake has been a party to a lawsuit that revolved around injuries due to being hit with a bottle. According to TMZ, in 2013, he and singer Chris Brown got into a massive brawl at a nightclub in New York. The pair were allegedly fighting over remarks Drake made about Brown abusing Rhianna. The two singers and their entourages started throwing bottles and Brown took a hit from a champagne bottle. In the aftermath, the club lost its liquor license and got some bad publicity. There was PR spillover onto a different club on the same block and the owners of that club launched a $16 million suit against the two musicians. A judge dismissed the charges and neither Drake nor Brown had to pay up.
However, this past incident, as well as other claims about violence in concert crowds, may cast a long shadow over the current lawsuit. The court papers allege that “aggressive and/or violent behavior at the concert, they knew Drake has a history of violence at his concerts, providing a dangerous weapon at Drake’s concerts."
Drake has been sued before.
6. Response
Page Six reached out to the management at Madison Square Garden and they said: “The lawsuit was filed this morning and we are looking into the matter. The safety and security of our guests is our highest priority.” Drake has not commented on the lawsuit at this time.
No comment from the singer.
Giovacco has not named a dollar figure her in the lawsuit. The Blast reports thar she is suing for her injuries and unspecified medical damages in the wake of the incident.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.