Travis Scott says he’s not responsible for what happened during the Astroworld tragedy.
The rapper made his first legal response to one of the almost 300 Astroworld lawsuits filed in the last month. In a filing made on December 6, Scott made a general denial of claims in the case brought against him by Jessie Garcia. Scott also requested for the suit to be dismissed with prejudice – meaning it could not be tried again. The filing was made on behalf of Scott and his companies Jack Enterprises, Cactus Jack Foundations, Cactus Jack Records, and Cactus Jack Studios.
Travis Scott has denied all allegations made against him in at least 11 different lawsuits tied to the Astroworld tragedy. The filing claims the rapper “is not legally liable” for the ten deaths or hundreds of injuries that occurred during the concert.
Live Nation and its subsidiary ScoreMore have also denied any responsibility for the allegations in the lawsuit. Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation also denied claims, but neither Live Nation, ScoreMore, or HCSC asked for dismissal of the lawsuits.
Last week, victims’ families rejected Travis Scott’s offers to cover funeral expenses.
Many families told the press they felt as though the offer was a public relations stunt rather than a genuine heart-felt response showing remorse. Scott previously claimed he was unaware of the severity of the situation while the concert was happening.
On November 12, Scott’s spokesperson told CBS Mornings that the rapper couldn’t have stopped the show. “They have a 59-page operations plan, and it clearly says the only two people that have the authority to stop the concert were the executive producer and the concert producer. He was not responsible for this, but he wants to be responsible for the solution.”
Live Nation is also facing scrutiny concerning its responsibility to operate a safe environment for concert organizers and attendees.
Over a three-year period from 2016 to 2019, Live Nation Entertainment and Live Nation Worldwide were cited for ten OSHA violations and filed for serious problems with ladder, rope, and scaffolding.” Live Nation also faced a lawsuit from a concert attendee who fractured her leg in a packed crowd during a Gwen Stefani performance in 2016.
