The first lawsuit was filed on Sat
Two Astroworld attendees have filed the first of what could be many lawsuits for Friday’s Astroworld tragedy that cost eight people their lives and injured dozens of others. The first suit was filed on Saturday by Manuel Souza against Travis Scott, Live Nation, organizer ScoreMore, Scott’s label Cactus Jack Records, LLC and several other individuals in Harris County District Court over the events. The second one, filed by Kristian Paredes, followed on Sunday, but adding Drake as a defendant as well.
Both are seeking $1 million each due to negligence and gross negligence. The lawsuits claim the rappers incited the crowd that night, and suggests they were responsible for the massive surge towards the stage that resulted in disaster.
Souza claims the disaster was “predictable and preventable tragedy” from “a motivation for profit at the expense of concertgoers’ health and safety” and the “encouragement of violence,” according to Billboard.
The suit does not claim what, if any, injuries Souza sustained. He does place blame on Scott himself who has incited violent behavior in the past.
“This kind of behavior has long been encouraged by the festival’s founder and main performer,” Souza states. “His express encouragement of violence has previously resulted in serious violence at numerous past concerts.”
The lawsuit claims that organizers disregarded warning signs earlier in the day regarding safety following multiple instances in which “concertgoers breached a security gate around the park, stampeded into the premises, and trampled over one another.”
The claim also states that organizers “made the conscious decision to let the show go on, despite the extreme risk of harm to concertgoers that was escalating by the moment” following the arrival of emergency personnel on site to attend to those who had “suffered serious obvious injury.”
More than 50,000 people were in attendance with another 50,000 expected for Saturday, which was canceled. Houston police are investigating cases of drug injections that may have led to some of the deaths. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner says a security officer felt a prick in the neck before losing consciousness, but was revived after medical staff administered Narcan. They also noticed a needle size mark in his neck.
Social media videos show that Scott had stopped the show several times due to the chaos, even requesting security’s assistance making sure those in the front weren’t distressed. He even signaled for security to assist a specific individual.
On Saturday, Scott shared a written message, “I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival. Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life. I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need. Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support.”
On Sunday, he released a video message sending out prayers to the families of those involved and reiterating that he’s fully cooperating with Houston PD.
