Travis Scott and Astroworld organisers have been sued for “at least $1 million” over claims of negligence and gross negligence linked to the crowd crush incident that occurred during his set at the festival, Billboard reports.
On Saturday local time in Harris County District Court, attendee Manuela Souza filed a lawsuit against Scott, the event organiser ScoreMore and Live Nation, over the horrific “mass casualty event” during Scott’s set where other attendees say they witnessed people be “trampled to death”. As of publishing, it resulted in at least eight people dead and 25 hospitalised, with at least 13 still in hospital and a 10-year-old in critical condition.
In the lawsuit, via Billboard, Souza claims that it was a “predictable and preventable tragedy”, and due to “a motivation for profit at the expense of concertgoers’ health and safety” and actions that could be described as an “encouragement of violence”.
“Defendants failed to properly plan and conduct the concert in a safe manner,” Souza’s lawyer Steve Kherkher wrote.
“Instead, they consciously ignored the extreme risks of harm to concertgoers, and, in some cases, actively encouraged and fomented dangerous behaviours.”
According to Billboard, it is believed to be the first of many lawsuits related to the tragic event.
Prior to the horrific mosh pit incident, chilling footage showed crowds stampeding through gates to get into the stadium. Souza claims that that moment was a warning sign that Astroworld organisers ignored.
He also claims that after ambulances arrived to treat fans who had suffered from “serious obvious injury”, the event organisers “made the conscious decision to let the show go on, despite the extreme risk of harm to concertgoers that was escalating by the moment.”
“Eventually, due to 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,” Souza said via his lawyer.
The lawsuit also blames that Scott should be held responsible for what transpired and has a history of encouraging this kind of activity in mosh pits.
“This kind of behavior has long been encouraged by the festival’s founder and main performer,” he wrote.
“His express encouragement of violence has previously resulted in serious violence at numerous past concerts.”
Representatives for Travis Scott, ScoreMore and Live Nation reportedly did not respond to requests for comment from the outlet. The case could be heard as soon as Monday US time.
Earlier this morning Scott and his partner Kylie Jenner made a joint statement about the tragedy, following his previous statement that he was “absolutely devastated” and after Jenner was slammed for posting a photo from the event that clearly showed an ambulance in the crowd.
Yesterday, local authorities confirmed reports of “needle spiking”, following claims that a security guard was jabbed in the neck with a needle. As of publishing, it’s yet to be determined what, if anything, was injected, and who was responsible for the alleged spiking.
