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Travis Scott, the American rapper and event promoter Live Nation, has settled nine of the 10 wrongful death lawsuits that were filed in the wake of the 2021 deadly crowd surge.
On November 5, 2021, a fatal catastrophe took place during the Astroworld Festival. The event was an annual occurrence hosted by Scott at NRG Park in Houston, Texas, in the name of his third studio album.
The only lawsuit pending is for the wrongful death of the youngest person killed during the concert, filed by the family of 9-year-old Ezra Blount. The court has kept the cases sealed as of now.
Nine wrongful death lawsuits settled related to the 2021 Travis Scott Astroworld Festival tragedy
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Jacques Bermon Webster II, known professionally as Travis Scott, rose to fame with his debut mixtape, Owl Pharaoh back in 2013, and subsequent projects like Days Before Rodeo and Rodeo. He released his third studio album, Astroworld in 2018, which earned him critical acclaim and commercial success.
However, in November 2021, Travis Scott's annual celebration in Houston turned tragic, because of a crowd crush. According to HFD Chief Sam Peña, issues close to the stage and over-capacity caused the surge. Few spectators who made it out revealed they were so tightly packed in the rush that they could not move their arms or breathe. 10 people lost their lives during the incident.
Apple, Travis Scott, and Live Nation, the world's largest live entertainment company, among others, were sued for wrongful death in the aftermath. On Wednesday, May 8, 2024, the event company's attorney, Neal Manne, informed the court that they had settled nine out of ten cases. The only case left is of the youngest person killed in the tragedy, 9-year-old Ezra.
The stampede occurred with 50,000+ people in the venue, which led to a frenzy and soon a crush that injured up to 300 festival-goers. The 10 people killed were from an age range of nine to 27. Compression asphyxia, which the officials compared to the impact of being crushed by a car, killed them.
The news of the settlements came as jury selection was underway for the suit filed by the family of Madison Dubiski, 23, one of the 10 who lost their lives. She also lived in Houston.
One month after the November 2021 stampede, the medical examiner for Harris County concluded in a statement that the 10 deaths had been accidental. In June 2023, a grand jury refused to indict Travis Scott, along with five others connected to the festival, including the festival's manager.
According to the official investigation, the police found the festival staff had already sounded the alarm for the safety of the crowd when the performance was ongoing. However, the alert message failed to reach the crew on stage.
There was also a 56-page plan written about how to respond to potential crises made for the concert, with countermeasures for gun rampages, bombings, terrorist threats, and extreme weather. The plan, however, did not cover the steps for a crowd surge.
There have been hundreds of cases, other than wrongful death lawsuits, filed by 4,000+ attendees of the concert with 2,400 injury cases yet to be heard by the court.
Travis Scott will begin his UTOPIA - Circus Maximus Tour at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in July 2024. The tickets will go on sale at 10 am on Friday, May 10, 2024.
