Travis Scott avoids Houston trial over Astroworld crowd crush
On November 5th, 2021, Travis Scott hosted what he planned to be an epic performance, his Astroworld Festival. However, the NRG Park in which it was held was full to capacity, and as rowdy fans began to surge, a tragic crowd crush occurred, tragically leading to ten deaths.
The horrific incident sparked a lot of controversy, and many pinned the crush on the rapper. Following the event, Harris County investigated the festival to determine whether or not Scott was partially responsible for the crush.
However, after a 19-month investigation, the state of Texas determined it would be bring any charges against Scott. However, individuals were still liable to bring forward civil lawsuits, and over 300 people did.
The incident led to Scott being sued multiple times, and since 2021, he has had to settle hundreds of lawsuits related to the incident. That said, the ‘Sicko Mode’ emcee has now managed to avoid a court appearance.
The Utopia creator and the concert’s organiser, Live Nation, settled nearly 100 injury lawsuits with bellwether plaintiffs Angel Dominguez and Elizabeth Martinez mere days before the trial was meant to begin in Houston.
Another bellwether plaintiff, Henry Hguyen, still hasn’t settled with Scott, but their court date has been rescheduled. Scott is settling all the lawsuits pertaining to injuries now. The Rodeo rhymer settled the last wrongful death case in May, which was filed in the name of Nine-year-old Ezra Blount.
A statement released by the family’s attorney in May read, “The family will continue its journey to healing, but never forget the joy that Ezra brought to everyone around him.” Scott chose to settle the case earlier this year after it was announced that he would have to appear in court in front of State District Judge Kristen Hawkins.
The family of Ezra Blount wanted the case to be heard sooner, but the judge insisted it was impossible due to scheduling and logistical errors on behalf of all the parties. That said, although the emcee has managed to settle a lot of the cases, not all of the injury lawsuits against him have been settled, and According to the Houston Chronicle, now, a host of lawyers will assign bellwether plaintiffs to test the strength of the remaining cases.