Travis Scott has become even more engulfed in lawsuits as the legal filings continue to mount after the mass casualty event at his 2021 Astroworld Festival last week, which hospitalized dozens, resulted in hundreds of injuries and now has a deceased count of nine individuals.
On Friday morning (Nov. 13), civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump and attorney Alex Hilliard held a press conference announcing the filing of lawsuits from more than 200 concertgoers who sustained physical, mental and psychological harm from Astroworld on Fri., Nov. 5. So far, 110 lawsuits have reportedly been filed with plans to file 90 more.
The conference was held in Houston outside of the city’s Harris County Civil Courthouse.
“We are announcing the filing of over 90 more lawsuits in this matter now that we have collected the information and the details and the evidence that they were present at the festival,” attorney Crump said. “That they sustained injuries at the festival and that we will make sure that they get justice because this should have never ever happened.”
“This is not just about making sure we get justice for these people who have been severely injured,” he continued. “It is also about making sure that Live Nation and all of the organizers, promoters and anybody else who had anything to do with the failure here that caused people to lose their children…Families lost their high school children, their college children. People were injured greatly and nobody should ever die from going to a concert. So, this lawsuit is not just about getting justice for them but it’s about making sure that the promoters and organizers know that you can not allow this to ever happen in the future. Even if you have to immediately stop the concert.”
Attorney Crump added that there were several people who could have stopped the concert when the “tragic circumstances” began to take place around 9:05 p.m. on Nov. 5. He also notes that the attorneys have a timeline of when the events occurred.
As previously reported, between 9 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. on Nov. 5, a massive crowd surge took place, pushing attendees towards the stage. Houston police realized a mass casualty was taking place around 9:30 p.m., according to Fire Chief Samuel Peña.
Attorney Hilliard also stated that the criminal behavior in connection to the catastrophe at Astroworld began to transpire weeks before the event took place.
“The evidence in the investigation, which has been underway including the inspection of the NRG Stadium, has revealed that the criminal behavior in this case started weeks prior to the date of the concert,” Hilliard explained. “There was no plan in place for this to happen. They are legally required as the organizers, the risk directors, the security personnel to protect over 50,000 people and they didn’t have a plan.”
He went on to say that the chaos commenced from 9 a.m., when the festival doors opened, and consistently grew to the point that there were fatalities and a variety of injuries.
The ninth deceased victim, 22-year-old Texas A&M University student Bharti Shahani, was pronounced dead on Thursday (Nov. 11) after being in critical condition at Houston Methodist Hospital. She had been breathing through a ventilator and her family told news outlets that she had no sign of brain activity.
Live Nation has offered a statement regarding the death of Bharti Shahani.
“We are heartbroken to learn of this passing and our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends,” the statement reads. “We remain focused on working with local authorities to support their investigation in the search for answers.”
Prior to the news of the 2021 Astroworld Festival’s death toll rising, reports surfaced online earlier this week about 9-year-old Ezra Blount, who was trampled at the event and is currently in a coma after suffering organ damage and brain swelling. The young boy was being protected by the crowd surge atop his father’s shoulders until the father passed out and fell, dropping the boy.
Travis Scott announced this week that he’ll be covering the funeral costs of all victims as well as offering mental health services for those impacted by the mass casualty that occurred at his annual festival last weekend.
XXL has reached out to Benjamin Crump, Alex Hilliard, reps for Travis Scott, Astroworld Festival and Live Nation for a comment on this matter.
Check out the full press conference below.
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