On Monday, a group of attorneys for those injured and killed at last year‘s Astroworld festival claimed rapper Travis Scott violated a gag order issued in lawsuits they have explicitly filed to influence potential jurors and restore Scott’s reputation before his possible trial.
In question is Scott’s announcement earlier this month about Project HEAL, a $5 million initiative that provides funding to deal with safety concerns at large-scale events and festivals.
Authorities in Houston and the federal government are investigating whether Live Nation, Scott, and others have taken adequate safety measures.
“My team and I created Project HEAL to take much-needed action towards supporting real solutions that make all events the safest spaces they can possibly be. I will always honor the victims of the Astroworld tragedy who remain in my heart forever,” Scott wrote on Instagram after the announcement.
During the court hearing, one of the attorneys representing the family of Ezra Blount, a 9-year-old who died from injuries sustained during the festival, said that Scott used the power of his social media presence to address concert safety, which is among the issues.
However, District Judge Kristen Hawkins previously stated that lawyers could comment on factual issues in court. Still, she didn‘t want them to make their cases in public opinion and possibly affect potential jurors.
The Blount family’s attorney told Hawkins, overseeing the nearly 500 lawsuits filed after ten people died and hundreds of others were injured, that Scott’s actions “did affect and dent the power of your order.”
According to one of Scott‘s attorneys, the rapper‘s announcement about the initiative did not violate the gag order. His attorneys argued that any attempts to restrict his freedom of expression would infringe his constitutional rights.
Such charitable efforts have “been a constant in his life” and “to suggest somehow that speaking about those charitable initiatives … runs afoul of the publicity order … is certainly not something that would withstand scrutiny,” Scott said.
ABC News attorneys also told Hawkins that they were hesitant to discuss the factual issues addressed in court or court documents because of the gag order.
According to other attorneys, they were trying to agree on modifying the gag order and that her concerns could be resolved and presented to her in the coming weeks.
“I look forward to seeing what proposals you come up with,” Hawkins said.
