The flood of lawsuits stemming from Friday night’s fatal Astroworld crowd-control disaster topped 18 as of Monday afternoon in Harris County, Texas. All named Live Nation as one of the lead defendants, with 15 also going after rapper Travis Scott.
Festival goer Kristian Paredes is seeking at least $1 million from Live Nation, Scott and even Drake in one of the suits, alleging Drake joined Scott as a surprise onstage guest and “helped incite the crowd” to a level that was “out of control.”
Paredes was at the front of the general admission section, felt an “immediate push” when Scott took the stage at 9 p.m. and was “severely injured” in the “stampede” that ensued, the nine-page lawsuit obtained by Rolling Stone states.
High-profile civil rights lawyers Ben Crump and Robert Hilliard filed two other negligence lawsuits for plaintiffs that notably left Scott off the list of those considered at fault.
Filed on behalf of concertgoers Illhan Mohamud and Noah Gutierrez, the suits seeking at least $1 million each say promoters Live Nation and Scoremore Holdings, as well as security contractor Contemporary Services Corporation, bear responsibility for the anarchic atmosphere that claimed the lives of eight people, injured hundreds more and left witnesses traumatized at NRG Park.
Mohamud’s suit says she was in the crowd “when suddenly and without warning, she became trapped in the middle of a crowd surge.”
“As the crowd continued to surge forward toward the stage at Astroworld, [Mohamud] and thousands of other concertgoers were pushed, shoved, elbowed, kicked along with being suffocated,” the filing states. “As plaintiff attempted to stay conscious and escape the crowd, she was forced to witness several concertgoers who [were] being crushed, trampled and killed within very close proximity.”
Gutierrez was in the VIP section of Scott’s performance when he was “suddenly forced to watch in terror as several concertgoers were injured and killed as a result of a crowd surge,” his lawsuit claims.
“Despite the chaos which defendants were aware of or should have been aware of, defendants failed to stop until over 40 minutes after city officials said the ‘mass casualty event’ had begun,” the Gutierrez lawsuit claims. Gutierrez “experienced severe and lifelong emotional trauma” related to what he saw, his paperwork states.
Lawyer Sean A. Roberts filed a flurry of lawsuits on behalf of at least nine people who attended the show. They all name Live Nation and Scott as defendants.
Natasha Celedon’s lawsuit filed by Roberts claims she was “seriously and permanently injured by the recklessness and conscious indifference of the defendants.” It says Live Nation and Scott failed to provide proper security, causing “several stampedes and a crowd compression” that led to the injuries and loss of life.
Roberts filed similar lawsuits on behalf of Dante Deberardino, Patrick Polier, Wasem Abulawi, Marielena Chavez, Priscilla Hernandez, Brianna Garcia, Cortius Broussard, and Tobenna Okezie.
Festivalgoer Cristian Guzman and his lawyer Vuk Vujasinovic filed a suit Monday that also petitioned the court for a restraining order that would bar Live Nation, NRG Park and the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation from modifying or disposing of any evidence of possible negligence.
Guzman claims he was “seriously injured” at the concert and has suffered “disfigurement, physical pain and mental anguish.”
A rep for Live Nation did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the flood of litigation.
From Rolling Stone US
