News November 17, 2021
Travis Scott, Drake & Others Face $750M Lawsuit Over Astroworld Festival

Travis Scott is facing yet another lawsuit stemming from the events of his ill-fated November 5 Astroworld Festival, which has since claimed the lives of 10 concertgoers.
On Tuesday, Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee filed a $750-million lawsuit on behalf of 125 victims against Scott and his fellow performer Drake, as well as Apple Music, Live Nation, Epic Records, Scott's Cactus Jack Records, and Tristar Sports & Entertainment Group.
Among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit is the family of Axel Acosta, 21, who died from his injuries after people in the crowd of around 50,000 began surging toward the stage.
In a statement to People, a member of Buzbee's legal team said Acosta's death "was needless, and was the result of gross negligence.”
Per their complaint, Buzbee says Acosta allegedly went into cardiac arrest from being crushed in the crowd.
"When Axel collapsed, he was trampled by those fighting to prevent themselves from being crushed," the lawsuit states. "As he lay there under a mass of humanity, dying, the music played and streamed on — for almost forty minutes."
"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,” the complaint continued.
The law firm also told People that they intend to file another lawsuit "with another 100 named plaintiffs."
Last Friday, The New York Post wrote that at least 108 lawsuits have been filed related to Scott’s concert. At least 98 of those suits were filed by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the family of Ezra Blount — a 9-year-old boy who passed away in the ICU days after he fell from his father Treston’s shoulders and was trampled by concertgoers.
Days before Blount became the youngest casualty from the event, 22-year-old college student Bharti Shahani passed away after reportedly being declared brain-dead.
The other victims who have died are Mirza Baig, 27, Rodolfo Peña, 23, Madison Dubiski, 23, Franco Patiño, 21, Jacob Jurinke, 20, John Hilgert, 14, Axel Acosta Avila, 21, and Brianna Rodriguez, 16.
This week, Alex Pollak — the CEO of ParaDocs, the medic company hired by Astroworld organizers — revealed that his staff faced an "impossible feat" at the concert when they treated 11 people with cardiac arrests at the same time.
"This is something I'll have nightmares about for the rest of my life," Pollak told reporters. "The team is extremely broken up about it. Seeing so many young people getting CPR at one time, it's just something no one should have to go through. Even though we're medical professionals, we should be used it. You can't get used to something like that."
Our condolences go out to everyone affected by this tragedy.