Travis Scott and Drake Are Hit with New Lawsuits After Fatal Astroworld Stampede
Travis Scott and Drake are being sued over the stampede at the music festival, Astroworld, that left eight people dead and dozens injured. The rappers are being sued for “negligence” and “encouragement of violence.”
One of the lawsuits filed was by one of the injured concertgoers, Manuel Souza. According to the lawsuit, Souza “suffered serious bodily injuries when the uncontrolled crowd at the concert knocked him to the ground and trampled him.” Souza is suing Scott and concert organizer, Live Nation for 1 million dollars. Souza is represented by law firm Kherkher Garcia LLP, who described the incident in the lawsuit.
I love Travis Scott’s music so much, but fuck him for what happened at Astrofest that was awful and inexcusable. I still can’t believe some people who I talked to tried to defend that.
— RUSSEL 🦃 (@TwitchRussel) November 8, 2021
“So many people were hurt, and so few emergency personnel were provided by defendants, that patrons themselves had to conduct CPR on their fellow concertgoers. Yet defendants made the conscious decision to let the show go on, despite the extreme risk of harm to concertgoers that was escalating by the moment.”
A complaint against Scott and Drake has been filed by another injured concert attendee named Kristian Paredes. Paredes, 23, alleged that he felt “an immediate push” at the general admission section, where a metal barrier separated the general and VIP areas. According to Peredes’ complaint, “the crowd became chaotic, and a stampede began leaving eight dead and dozens including Kristian Paredes severely injured. Many begged security guards hired by Live Nation Entertainment for help but were ignored.”
“Scott had incited mayhem and chaos at prior events,” and “defendants knew or should have known of Scott’s prior conduct.” the complaint added.
The complaint further accuses Drake of contributing to the stampede
“As Drake came onstage alongside Travis Scott, he helped incite the crowd even though he knew of Travis Scott’s prior conduct. He continued to perform even as the “crowd became out of control” and the “crowd mayhem continued.”
people really out here defending Travis Scott?
— meowri (@JennaLynnMeowri) November 8, 2021
Many more lawsuits have been filed against Scott, Drake, Astroworld, and Live Nation. High-profile lawyer Ben Crump and co-counsel Bob Hilliard announced they were going to sue Scott and Astrworld. Crump has represented families of big-name cases, such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Now Crump is representing Noah Gutriez, another injured concert attendee.
“We are hearing horrific accounts of the terror and helplessness people experienced — the horror of a crushing crowd and the awful trauma of watching people die while trying unsuccessfully to save them.” both Crump and Hilliard said in the statement. “We urge others who suffered physical or emotional injury or witnessed the events of that day to contact us.”
NEWS ALERT: @AttorneyCrump has issued a statement & is representing victims in the aftermath of the Travis Scott Astroworld concert, including 21-year-old Noah Gutierrez who described a scene of chaos and desperation. pic.twitter.com/Tfo5EA4mVL
— Ben Crump Law, PLLC (@BenCrumpLaw) November 7, 2021
Moreover, Houston authorities are suing Scott for “involvement of the homicide and narcotics divisions.” Security warned Scott of the crowd but chose to ignore them. 50,000 people attended the Astroworld concert, which left eight people dead and three hundred people injured. As Scott took the stage, waves of concertgoers rushed to the rapper, crushing and killing fellow concert members.
Travis issued his condolences to the victims who died via social media. He claimed he would be covering the medical bills of victims ages 14-27, refund everyone’s tickets, and cover the funeral costs for those who died. In addition, he will not be attending the Day N Vegas Festival. One of the performers, Roddy Ricch, will donate the money he made from Astroworld to the victims’ families. The victims who lost their lives are Mirza Baig, 27; Rodolfo Peña, 23; Madison Dubiski, 23; Franco Patiño, 21; Jacob Jurinke, 20; John Hilgert, 14; Axel Acosta Avila, 21, and Brianna Rodriguez, 16.
— TRAVIS SCOTT (@trvisXX) November 6, 2021
“BuT WhAt wAs TrAvIs SuPpoSed tO Do???” Literally this. Calm the crowd down. He had all the power on that stage. Travis needs to take responsibility #ASTROWORLDFest #TravisScott #astroworldfestival #AstroWorld2021 #canceltravisscott pic.twitter.com/X0Ul9i5fi1
— Uy 🙃 (@harrypopz) November 8, 2021
Live Nation, the company that organized Astroworld, released a statement of its own. “Heartbroken for those lost and impacted at Astroworld last night. We will continue working to provide as much information and assistance as possible to the local authorities as they investigate the situation.”
OH WOW…. SO THESE WERE THE PEOPLE TRYING TO ESCAPE THAT WERE BEING TRAPPED AT #AstroWorld ON FRIDAY! I’M JUST TOTALLY SHOCKED TO SEE THE OVER 300+ PEOPLE BEING SERIOUSLY HURT BY THIS…. 💔🤬💔🤬 #CancelTravisScott #TravisScott pic.twitter.com/OHYSivWmEr
— Anthony Buchanan (@anthonyscountry) November 8, 2021
Apparently, this isn’t the first time Scott has incited violence. In 2015 at Lalapalooza, he was charged with disorderly conduct after encouraging fans to climb over the barricades where the rapper was performing. Fortunately, security was able to act quickly before anyone got injured. Furthermore, Scott was arrested in 2017 while performing at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavillion. He was charged with inciting a riot, disorderly conduct, and endangering a minor after he encouraged the crowd to rush the stage and bypass security protocols set for the safety of audience members. Scott, Drake, and Live Nation’s fates for the incident are still up in the air.
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