Hundreds of lawsuits against Travis Scott over his involvement in the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival were not dismissed by a Houston judge.
Astroworld Festival was an annual music festival inspired by Scott’s album of the same title, held in Houston, Texas, at NRG Park. At the 2021 festival, ten people died due to a crowd crush, and 11 others went into cardiac arrest. Over 50,000 people were in attendance, according to Harris County and Houston city officials.
The 10 dead and hundreds of injured festival-goers filed a lawsuit against Scott, Live Nation, and others. Those killed, aged 9 to 27, died of compression asphyxia, the same as being crushed by a car, according to an expert. Scott didn’t perform for a year following Astroworld 2021.
Scott’s Utopia tour was successful, and plans for a return to Houston with the Mayor’s support began in August 2023.
Scott’s attorneys argued in April that he was not responsible for concert safety planning or watching for dangers at the festival on Nov. 5, 2021. They argued his duties only involved creative aspects like performing and marketing.
Scott’s request to be dropped from the case was denied by District Judge Kristen Hawkins. On April 13, Hawkins dropped lawsuits against Drake and other entities involved in the festival.
No charges were filed against Scott and five other people after a Houston police investigation. The grand jury declined to indict them on any criminal counts related to the deadly concert.
Some lawsuits from families of the dead and injured have been settled, including those from families of four of the dead.
An attorney for Madison Dubiski’s family stated that Travis Scott had a “conscious disregard for safety” at the sold-out festival. Scott allegedly encouraged people without tickets to break in and ignored orders to stop the concert when people were getting hurt or dying.
Dubiski’s family filed a lawsuit, which is set to be the first to go to trial on May 6.