ACE Discussion - Delbert Hall's Assessment of the 2014 Ringling Brothers’ Circus Hair Hang Act Accident

March 29, 2026 at 2 PM EST

Guest Speaker: Delbert Hall

On May 4, 2014, eight performers with the Ringling Brothers Circus were injured, six seriously, while performing a hair hang act at the Dunkin Donut Center in Providence, Rhode Island, when a Fusion Tazo carabiner holding the rig failed. The performers fell over 20 feet to the concrete arena floor, and the 328-pound steel apparatus supporting the performers fell on top of them.

The performers sued the carabiner’s manufacturer, Ace Metal Products, and the vendor who sold the carabiner to the circus, Patroller Supply. That lawsuit was settled out of court, but the settlement amount was not publicly disclosed. The performers also sued the venue’s owner, the Rhode Island Convention Center (RICC), and the venue’s management company, SMG. On Dec. 22, 2020, the performers reached a $52.5 million settlement with the arena and SMG.  

Most people think this matter ended with these settlements. While it did end there for the performers, it did not end for SMG or Feld Entertainment, which owns the Ringling Brothers Circus. SMG sued Feld Entertainment in 2020. That lawsuit was finally settled in October 2024.

What happened behind the scenes is the subject of this presentation by Delbert Hall, an aerial rigging expert witness hired by SMG’s lawyers.

ACE Discussion - Delbert Hall's Assessment of the 2014 Ringling Brothers’ Circus Hair Hang Act Accident

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