NEW YORK (NYTimes) - Concerts by rapper Travis Scott are known to be like high-octane punk shows with a bigger budget as fans form mosh pits, crowd surf and stage-dive with abandon.
But the same factors that have made Scott one of the most sought-after live acts in rap music also led to the serious injury of one of his fans, according to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan.
Mr Kyle Green, 23, said he was paralysed after he was pushed from a third-storey balcony and then dragged on stage while the rapper performed at Manhattan venue Terminal 5 in April.
He is now suing Scott and his manager, the concert promoter and the security company for what his lawyer called "negligence, carelessness and recklessness".
Mr Green, a student, is seeking unspecified damages.
Video from the sold-out concert shows Scott encouraging fans on the second-floor balcony to jump into the crowd below. "Don't be scared," he can be heard saying, as a spotlight illuminates one dangling concertgoer. "They're going to catch you."
Mr Howard Hershenhorn, a lawyer for Mr Green, said his client did not jump but was pushed from the third floor as the crowd surged towards the ledge.
Video from that night shows Mr Green lying still on the floor of the venue.
"Before I knew it, I was surrounded by security guards, who scooped me up," Mr Green told the New York Post. "Travis Scott was yelling at his security guards to bring me to the stage."
According to the lawsuit, the fan was moved without a neck brace or backboard and deposited onstage, where Scott can be seen giving him a ring as a gift.
"Pick him up," the rapper instructed security. "Put this ring on his finger."
Mr Green suffered fractured vertebrae, a broken left wrist and a fractured right ankle, "resulting in extreme pain and suffering, loss of earnings, emotional distress and medical expenses", the lawsuit said.
Scott, the suit added, had "incited mayhem and chaos at prior events", including an arrest in May for inciting a riot at a concert in Arkansas. The rapper pleaded not guilty.
In 2015, he pleaded guilty to charges of reckless conduct after he encouraged fans at Lollapalooza in Chicago to climb over security barricades and onto the stage.
