Travis Scott to Face Jury Trial in Astroworld Lawsuits, Judge Orders
Scott will be required to personally appear before the jury.
A Houston judge has declined to dismiss hundreds of lawsuits filed against Travis Scott for the 2021 Astroworld festival, where ten people died and hundreds of others were injured during a crowd surge.
Noah Wexler, an attorney representing the family of Madison Dubiski, who died at Astroworld, argued during an April 15 hearing that Scott exercised “conscious disregard for safety” and encouraged those without tickets to break into the festival and ignored the festival organizer’s calls to stop his performance.
Scott’s lawyers countered that the rapper wasn’t responsible for the safety planning of 2021’s Astroworld and that his duties only encompassed the creative elements of the event, such as marketing and performing.
“Like any other adrenaline-inducing diversion, music festivals must balance exhilaration with safety and security—but that balance is not the job of performing artists, even those involved in promoting and marketing performances,” Scott’s attorney Daniel Petrocelli wrote, per Billboard. “Which only makes sense: Performing artists, even those who engage in certain promotional activities, have no inherent expertise or specialized knowledge in concert safety measures, venue security protocols, or site-design.”
Scott was deposed back in October and was questioned by the attorneys representing the plaintiffs for eight hours.
On Tuesday, State District Judge Kristen Hawkins signed a one-page order denying Scott’s attorneys’ request that he and his production company XX Global be dropped from the case. The order also states that Scott must personally attend the jury trial, slated to commence in Houston next month.
Judge Hawkins previously dismissed lawsuits filed against Drake, who also appeared at Astroworld.
