The promoter of an event at a DFW Airport hotel in which entertainer Meat Loaf fell off a stage says the singer’s injuries were entirely his own fault, asserting he had “put down his cane” and wasn’t paying attention after using “colorful language” in a loud tirade.
Meat Loaf, 72, whose real name is Michael Lee Aday, filed a lawsuit last month naming the promoter, Texas Frightmare Weekend, and the Hyatt Corporation, owner of the Hyatt Regency DFW where the event took place in May 2019.
Hyatt responded to the lawsuit by generally denying all the allegations. In its response, Texas Frightmare Weekend blamed the singer.
“When Meat Loaf appeared at Texas Frightmare Weekend he was using a cane to get around and was combative and resistant to following established procedures or accepting assistance,” wrote the promoter’s attorney, Bryan Pope, of Dallas.
Aday was supposed to sit down at a table on stage and be interviewed by a moderator, the promoter said in its filing.
“However, he put down his cane before climbing the steps on the stage and exclaimed loudly that he did not need a moderator, then engaged those present with colorful language, acknowledged he was schizophrenic and then … apparently was not paying attention to where he was going, mis-stepped and fell off the stage,” Texas Frightmare Weekend said.
In his lawsuit in Tarrant County District Court, Aday claims the hotel and promoter were negligent in the way they set up the stage, using a black curtain which created a hidden danger.
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Aday said he suffered injuries to his neck, collar bone and shoulder that left him hospitalized for 42 days and unable to return to singing.
The promoter said it did not know at the time that Aday had “pre-existing conditions which likely contributed to his fall.”
Meat Loaf was in “compromised and weakened health at the time he came to Texas Frightmare Weekend and had previous collapses on stage, numerous health issues, was having to use a cane for ambulation, (and) was not able to sing or perform for long periods of time,” the promoter said..
Meat Loaf is best known for the 1970’s single Bat Out Of Hell and his appearance in The Rocky Horror Show. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas.
