“Wallenda’s feat will be broadcast live on the Discovery Channel, which, unlike ABC two years ago, made no demands for the inclusion of a safety tether or net. Nor did the City of Chicago, despite an Illinois state law that requires aerial performances above the height of 20 feet to include such measures. “We see the primary focus of the law as protecting aerial performers from being forced by unscrupulous employers to work in unsafe conditions against their will. That scenario clearly does not apply to Mr. Wallenda, who belongs in a unique and elite class of performers, and whose decision to perform without a net is entirely his own,” the city said in a statement. ”
