'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The final wrongful death lawsuit against rapper Travis Scott and Live Nation for the deaths of ten people in a crowd crush during the singer's concert at the 2021 Astroworld music festival will be held in civil court in September.
On Tuesday, May 14, State District Judge Kristen Hawkins said during a court hearing that the jury selection for the trial will begin on September 10. The date for the actual trial is yet to be announced, but it is expected to take place in September. If the trial takes place as expected, it will be the first civil case due to a concert to go to trial.
Nine out of the ten lawsuits filed against Scott were settled out of court. However, the final lawsuit filed by the Blount family for the death of nine-year-old Ezra Blount during the crowd crush is yet to be settled.
Trending
Ezra was the youngest person to have died due to the crowd crush at Travis Scott's concert, which killed ten people. AP News reported that Blount's family wanted the hearing to happen sooner, but Hawkins said logistics would not allow them to proceed before September.
As per AP News, those who died were in the age range of 9 to 27. All of them died due to compression asphyxia. An expert compared it to death from a car crash. Apart from the ten wrongful death cases, around 2400 injury cases were also filed after Scott's deadly concert. Hawkins set the first date for the injury trials for October 15 during Tuesday's court hearing.
What happened during Travis Scott's concert at the Astroworld music festival in 2021?
The Astroworld music festival was held in November 2021 in Houston, Texas. Rapper Travis Scott's concert took place on the first night of the festival on November 5. A massive tragedy occurred when people died during the concert after being crushed by a large group of concertgoers.
The crowd crush killed ten people, while 23 were hospitalized and over 300 were left with injuries. As per the LA Times, officials estimated that over 50,000 people were present at the concert. Fans went towards the stage to watch Travis Scott perform, but things quickly went out of hand.
Mass casualties were declared at the concert at 9:38 p.m., but they continued until 10:15 p.m., as per the LA Times. Following the tragedy, the families of the deceased concertgoers filed wrongful death lawsuits against Travis Scott, the festival's organizer and promoter, Live Nation, and other companies associated with the event, including Apple Inc., for livestreaming it.
The relatives of the ten individuals who died in the tragedy filed ten wrongful death lawsuits against Live Nation and the rapper. Nine out of the ten cases were settled out of court, with the terms of the settlement remaining strictly confidential.
Attorneys involved in the cases have been instructed to give limited information about the settlement to the media due to a gag order, according to AP News.
One of the wrongful death lawsuits was filed by the Dubinski family for the death of 23-year-old Houston resident Madison Dubinski. Dubinski's case was supposed to go on trial last week, but it was settled outside court before the trial.
Apart from the wrongful death lawsuits, Travis Scott was also sued by families for over 2400 injury cases. In all, over 4000 plaintiffs filed several lawsuits against the rapper and the company.
On Tuesday's court hearing (May 15), Judge Kristen Hawkins set a date for the injury case trials on October 15. The trial will deal with seven injury cases.
The plaintiff's lawyers claimed in their lawsuits that the Astroworld music festival tragedy occurred due to negligent planning and a lack of concern for the safety of the concertgoers. Travis Scott, along with Live Nation and other companies involved, denied such charges, alleging that safety was their first and primary concern.
As per Houston Landing, an examination of court recordings reportedly revealed that concert organizers made incorrect calculations to accommodate 50,000 fans at the Astroworld festival. The event's safety director, Seyth Boardman, wrote about such concerns to the festival's operation director ten days before the festival, per Houston Landing. He wrote:
“I feel like there is no way we are going to fit 50k in front of that stage. Especially with all of the trees!”
Experts hired by the plaintiff's attorneys also found that Travis Scott's concert could only accommodate 34,500 people but still let over 50,000 people enter the venue. These claims have been submitted in court as a part of the several lawsuits filed against the concert management teams and Scott.
In June 2023, a Houston jury court decided that Scott would not face criminal charges for the Astroworld tragedy, following a police investigation.
Travis Scott said he 'always thinks about' the Astroworld tragedy two years after deadly crowd crush
In an interview with GQ magazine in 2023, Travis Scott opened up about the Astroworld tragedy, claiming he always thinks about it and that his fans are like his family.
"I always think about it. Those fans were like my family. You know, I love my fans to the utmost. It has its moments where it gets rough and…yeah. You just feel for those people. And their families," he said.
In his previous public statement, days after the tragedy, Scott revealed that he was not aware of the "severity of the situation." Had he known of it, the rapper said he would have stopped the show. He said on Instagram Live:
"Anytime I can make out anything that’s going on, you know, I stop the show and you know, help them get the help they need. I could just never imagine the severity of the situation."
The rapper also admitted that his song, My Eyes, refers to the deadly tragedy. He said the song is "emotional," and he wants his listeners to know he "has pain too."
