Nine of ten Astroworld death lawsuits settled before trial

Nine of 10 wrongful death lawsuits stemming from the Astroworld festival disaster have been settled, a plaintiff’s attorney confirmed Wednesday, avoiding a trial where superstar rapper Travis Scott could have faced tough questioning under oath.

The settlements cover all families except the concert’s youngest victim, 9-year-old Ezra Blount, according to court statements first reported by The Associated Press. Blount’s attorney, Scott West, confirmed his case is ongoing.

The settlements end a long quest for justice for many of the families whose loved ones died in a crowd crush during Scott’s performance at the festival on the grounds of NRG Park.

The concert quickly turned deadly on November 5, 2021. Scott took the stage at 9:02 p.m.; a few minutes later, the crush of the crowd began and the fans collapsed.

Even though authorities declared the concert a mass casualty event, Scott — whose contract included a $4.5 million bonus for completing his set — continued to perform for another 37 minutes until the conclusion of the concert.

For more than two years, the families have sought to hold Scott and the companies playing a role in the festival accountable, including concert promoter Live Nation, venue operator ASM Global, concert broadcaster Apple and various companies. of security.

There was never an independent investigation into the concert disaster, meaning the victims’ families’ lawsuits in Harris County civil court likely represented their only chance for accountability for what happened. happened on the night of November 5, 2021.

The parents of victim Madison Dubiski, 23, had to first make their case heard.

“The parties were able to reach an agreement on a confidential settlement,” Dubiski’s legal team said in a statement to The Landing Wednesday afternoon. “The parties will cooperate in the future to honor the legacy of Madison Dubiski and promote improved concert security.”

Ted Anastasiou, Scott’s spokesperson, issued a similar statement, saying the rapper was grateful a resolution could be reached without resorting to a trial and that the deal would “honor Madison Dubiski’s legacy and promote Concert Safety Improvements.”

The trial was scheduled to begin this week in Judge Kristen Brauchle Hawkins’ courtroom, but it was delayed by a last-minute appeal from Apple, which argued it should be relieved of liability as an organization collection of information.

Scott and other festival organizers must have wondered why they decided to direct all audience members to a single stage at the end of the evening for Scott’s climactic performance.

That scheduling decision, along with poorly designed crowd control barriers and ticket sales that far exceeded the venue’s capacity, all contributed to the deaths at the festival, according to plaintiffs’ experts.

Public records show the Houston Police Department hosted discussions about similar attendance issues at Scott’s 2019 concert in Houston.

In a “post-action” meeting after the 2019 festival, then-deputy executive chief Larry Satterwhite, who was named interim chief Wednesday following the sudden resignation of Police Chief Troy Finner, said that the department needed “more resources to get to the middle of the conflict.” crowd and reach children who are having problems in the middle of the crowd. There were children who found themselves against the barricade, who were crushed by the crowd and turned blue.

The 2019 concert did not result in any deaths.

Two years later, despite lessons learned, a series of mistakes led to even deadlier consequences. Documents show festival organizers mistakenly calculated the space needed for fans by estimating 5 square feet of room per attendee, rather than the 7 square feet required by the state fire code. While space was intended for 50,000 fans, using 7 feet of space for each person would have reduced capacity by 15,500.

In recent weeks, Hawkins has denied motions from Scott, Live Nation and Apple to be dismissed from the case. She also said the plaintiffs could question Scott about the protracted process of shutting down the show.

Satterwhite was also on the witness list. Satterwhite was one of the department’s liaisons with festival organizers in the weeks leading up to the disaster, tried to order the show to stop and performed CPR on one of the victims before she be declared dead.

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