Steve Aoki Apologizes For Breaking Fan’s Neck
Steve Aoki concerts are wild places full of cake-throwing and inflatable life raft-surfing. During a 2013 concert at San Diego’s Hard Rock Hotel, Aoki threw a raft onto the crowd, climbed the stage rafters, and then jumped 20 feet down onto the raft, accidentally breaking the neck of a concertgoer named Brittany Hickman who was unfortunate enough to be standing directly beneath it.
Hickman ended up suing Aoki and Hard Rock for $10.7 million last year after they refused to pay for her medical bills and two-month disability period that prevented her from working, and on Thursday, the case’s two-week trial finally ended with a 10-2 verdict in favor of Hard Rock. Aoki settled out of court and was cleared of liability before the trial even began, and the EDM star has now issued a formal apology for the incident.
“Steve would never want anyone to get hurt at one of his shows and is sorry Ms. Hickman did,” a representative for Aoki tells Billboard. “After they reached a confidential settlement, they had the chance to speak, and Steve got the chance to apologize. The favorable verdict for his co-defendant, Hard Rock Hotel, brings welcome closure to all parties.”