Lil Peep's mother is claiming that her late son’s record label is refusing to pay her $4 million that’s owed to her his estate.
According to a Rolling Stone report published on Tuesday (Sept. 28), Peep's mother Liza Womack alleges that the late rapper's label, First Access Entertainment (FAE), is trying to impede her wrongful death and business lawsuit against FAE and the company's CEO by cutting off royalties that are owed to her by way of her son's estate.
“FAE is trying to choke off her funds by denying her royalty revenue that they know she’s owed,” Womack’s attorney, Paul A. Matiasic, said at a court hearing in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon. Matiasic added that the $4 million, which is reportedly royalty revenue from Peep's music, is long overdue despite FAE allegedly admitting it owes the estate.
In response to Matiasic’s accusations, FAE’s lawyer, John W. Amberg, told the court that it’s Womack who’s causing the delays and that the label doesn’t owe her $4 million. “It also is not true that FAE owes the estate over $4 million,” he said. “That’s simply not true. That’s just an argument used to gain someone’s sympathy here.”
This hearing comes two years after Womack filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her son's former management and tour company. In her suit, Peep's mother claims that her son's management allegedly "normalized and even encouraged" the use of controlled drugs and illegal substances throughout his tour. She also cited an incident from her son's tour stop in London, where his management allegedly gifted the rapper with a full bottle of pills at a restaurant during dinner. Womack further alleges that her son was continuously provided with Xanax, Ketamine and other drugs.
Peep, born Gustav Elijah Åhr, died on Nov. 15, 2017, on his tour bus in Tucson, Ariz. He was 21 years old. According to an autopsy, Peep’s death was attributed to an accidental overdose on generic Xanax mixed with fentanyl.
Since filing the wrongful death lawsuit, Womack’s health has been deteriorating. The matriarch has suffered two strokes during the legal process. "I’ve had two strokes, and I am not going to die until I take care of this matter," she told Pitchfork in May of 2021. "I’m going to live. I have a mission."
A trial in the wrongful death case was supposed to start in November, but has been pushed back after FAE countersued Womack for allegedly selling merchandise bearing her son’s name without permission.
XXL has reached out to Lil Peep's mom's attorney and First Access Entertainment’s legal team for a comment.