- A new lawsuit filed against
Travis Scott named more than 20 additional defendants including Apple Music. - The lawsuit represents over 125
Astroworld attendees and is seeking more than $750,000,000 in damages.
A Houston attorney filed a lawsuit representing over 125 Astroworld Festival attendees on Tuesday, seeking more than $750,000,000 in damages. The suit names Travis Scott, Drake, Apple Music, and others as defendants.
The lawsuit, filed in Harris County District Court on Tuesday by Tony Buzbee and reviewed by Insider, said that the deaths of ten concertgoers during and after the mass casualty event concert were "needless and senseless." Buzbee said in a statement to Insider that his firm "intends to file another lawsuit in the coming days with another 100 named plaintiffs."
Attendees of Scott's festival in Houston at NRG Park reported "hellish" conditions in a "sinkhole" of human bodies. The event was dubbed a "mass casualty event" by law enforcement at 9:38 p.m. local time on Friday, November 5.
Ten people, including a 9-year-old and a 22-year-old Texas A&M, died following a crowd surge. Hundreds more were injured.
The plaintiffs include the family of Axel Acosta, a 21-year-old attendee who died at the concert.
"Axel Acosta loved and adored Travis Scott and the other performers at Astroworld — the feeling was not mutual; certainly, neither Travis Scott nor his exclusive partners, streaming service, record labels, handlers, entourage, managers, agents, hangers-on, promoters, organizers, or sponsors cared enough about Axel Acosta and the other concertgoers to make an even minimal effort to keep them safe," Buzbee said in the suit.
The lawsuit, which is seeking over $750,000,000 in damages for mental and physical distress, lists Scott, Drake, Apple Music, Scoremore, Live Nation, as well as medic staffing agency ParaDocs among the long list of defendants, claiming they all had liability for "gross negligence," and poor planning. Insider reached out to all of the defendants for comment.
"We are confident that the facts will demonstrate that the care we provided followed the appropriate protocols and operating procedures that were in place," said ParaDocs spokesperson Juda Engelmeyer in a previous statement to Insider. ParaDocs did not immediately respond to provide an updated statement.
Apple Music promoted and live-streamed Astroworld, and in the suit, Buzbee pulls from a series of Travis Scott lyrics, social media posts, and stampede incidents at previous shows, claiming that Apple Music should have known there could be potential safety issues before presenting the live-stream.
"Apple knew that Webster (Travis Scott) had encouraged concertgoers to jump from the balcony, causing at least one to fall and be paralyzed. " Buzzbee wrote in the filing. "Apple was well aware of Live Nation's long and tortured history of reckless disregard to concertgoers," he added, saying that the company "cannot reap the benefits of an exclusive partnership and streaming video from the concert without sharing in the blame for how horribly it was managed." Insider reached out to Apple for comment on the lawsuit.
Drake is also named as a defendant because he performed alongside Scott during a more than 30-minute span after the Houston Police Department declared the show a "mass casualty" event.
Drake's representatives could not immediately be reached for comment on the lawsuit. He previously said he was praying for the families and friends of those who were killed in an Instagram post.
"My heart is broken for the families and friends of those who lost their lives and for anyone who is suffering," Drake said on Instagram. "I will continue to pray for all of them and will be of service in any way I can. May God be with you all."
In the suit, Buzbee said that Live Nation has a history of neglecting audience safety measures, citing the suicide bomber attack which killed 22 people at a 2017 Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, the mass shooting at a 2017 country music festival in Las Vegas that killed 60, and the 2015 terrorist attack at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris where 89 people were killed, as examples.
"We continue to support and assist local authorities in their ongoing investigation so that both the fans who attended and their families can get the answers they want and deserve, and we will address all legal matters at the appropriate time," Live Nation said in a statement to Insider.
In regards to Scott (whose birth name is Jacques Berman Webster II), the lawsuit says that "the Acosta family would rather Webster have privately spent money on proper planning, adequate security, and medical staff before the concert, instead of publicly stating that he would pay for the funerals of those that were crushed and killed. Webster's efforts, regardless of their insincerity, are far too little, and far too late."
Representatives for Scott did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the suit. In a previous statement to Insider, Scott's attorney Edwin McPherson said, "Investigations should start proceeding over finger-pointing so that together, we can identify exactly what transpired and how we can prevent anything like this from happening again."
Following the event, Scott posted to Twitter that he was "devastated" by the loss of life, adding, "My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival."