So far, at least three people have filed a lawsuit against Travis Scott, Drake, and Live Nation after they were injured during Astroworld where at least eight were killed. Two of the suits are seeking $1 million in damages.
On Saturday, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said that a crowd had rushed the stage during Scott’s performance on Friday.
Pena said, “it caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries.” At least eight people, including two teenagers, were killed and dozens were hospitalized.
Plaintiff Kristian Paredes filed a civil claim against Scott and Drake, accusing them of negligently encouraging “a riot and violence.” The lawsuit argues that Live Nation failed to provide proper security and medical services at the Astroworld festival, and is one of several that seeks $1 million in damages.
The lawsuit also states that Scott “had incited mayhem and chaos at prior events” and that the other defendants did nothing to stop him.
Drake, who appeared as a surprise guest, is also accused of “helping incite the crowd even though he knew of [Scott’s] prior conduct,” and “continued to perform on stage while the crowd mayhem continued.”
Scott claimed he was “absolutely devastated” by what happened in a statement released on Saturday.
According to the lawsuit, Paredes was standing near a metal barrier dividing the VIP section from the general admission section at the time.
The lawsuit claims that as Scott began performing, Paredes “felt an immediate push” before “the crowd became chaotic and a stampede began.”
“Many begged security guards hired by Live Nation Entertainment for help, but were ignored,” the lawsuit adds.
Paredes “suffered severe bodily injuries” as a result of the incident, according to the lawsuit, which “had a serious effect on the Plaintiff’s health and well-being,” the lawsuit says.
The suit claims that “Some of the effects are permanent and will abide with the Plaintiff for a long time into the future, if not for his entire life,”
Furthermore, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump announced on Sunday that he has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Noah Gutierrez, 21 and that he plans to file further lawsuits for other alleged victims next week.
“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,” Crump said in a statement. “We will be pursuing justice for all our clients who were harmed in this tragic and preventable event.”
In a lawsuit filed on behalf of Manuel Souza, Scott, Live Nation, and concert promoter ScoreMore are named as defendants. Souza “suffered serious bodily injuries when the uncontrolled crowd at the concert knocked him to the ground and trampled him.
According to the lawsuit, his injuries “were the inevitable and predictable result of (the) defendants’ conscious disregard of the extreme risks of harm to concertgoers that had been escalating since hours earlier. … Eventually, due to (the) defendants’ active decision to let the show go on, the scene devolved into a complete melee, resulting in the needless, untimely death of at least 8 people and injuries to scores of others.”
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