As the dust continues to settle following the tragic events that took place Friday night at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas, the legal ramifications have begun to stack up.
After one concertgoer, who alleged that Scott encouraged violence during his performance on November 6 and that Live Nation and other Astroworld organizers profited “at the expense of concertgoers’ health and safety,” filed a lawsuit on Sunday, the flood gates completely opened.
As of Monday (November 8), Rolling Stone reported that at least 19 lawsuits had been filed through the Harris County District Clerk. Today, Complex has reported that the number has jumped to more than 30.
Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images
Multiple concertgoers have sued Scott, Live Nation, Drake and other defendants for millions of dollars, and have alleged that the eight deaths and hundreds of injuries resulting from stampeding and out-of-control crowds during Scott’s set on Friday night were caused both by poor planning and execution on the part of festival organizers, and by Scott’s reputation for encouraging unruly behavior at his concerts, and social media posts leading up to this year’s Astroworld Festival.
Among the lawsuits filed today was one on behalf of the father of E.B. (Ezra Blount), a nine-year-old who was “trampled and catastrophically injured at the Astroworld Festival,” according to a press release from Ben Crump Law.
In the lawsuit, nationally renowned personal injury attorney, Ben Crump, said that Blount is currently in a medically-induced coma and on life support as a result of brain, liver and kidney trauma he suffered at Astroworld. Alex Hilliard, another attorney listed on the lawsuit, said that he, Crump and Robert Hilliard plan to hold all parties involved with the Astroworld Festival tragedy accountable for their actions, or lack thereof.
“We plan to hold everyone who had a hand in this festival accountable for the horrifying and traumatic injuries that this helpless child sustained,” Hilliard said in the Crump press release. “Organizers have a duty and responsibility to protect their patrons and control the crowd when it gets out of control. It is outrageous that it took as long as it did to stop the show, as many of these deaths and injuries likely could have been prevented or mitigated.”
Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
It is unclear just how many lawsuits will be filed against Scott and the rest of the defendants listed in the lawsuits that have already been filed, but it seems certain that this is just the tip of the iceberg. In just four days, there have already been 30+ lawsuits, and according to both Rolling Stone and Complex that number is already increasing at a rapid rate.
Stay updated on anything involving the Astroworld Festival here.