Rapper Travis Scott is questioned over deadly crowd surge at Texas festival in wave of lawsuits
By JUAN LOZANO
Posted 9/18/23
HOUSTON (AP) — Rap superstar Travis Scott was questioned on Monday in a deposition he is giving in connection with hundreds of lawsuits that were filed against him and others over the deaths and …
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Rapper Travis Scott is questioned over deadly crowd surge at Texas festival in wave of lawsuits
FILE - Travis Scott performs at Day 1 of the Astroworld Music Festival at NRG Park, Nov. 5, 2021, in Houston. The rap superstar was questioned on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in a deposition he is giving in connection with hundreds of lawsuits that were filed against him and others over the deaths and injuries at the 2021 Astroworld festival. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
Posted
By JUAN LOZANO
HOUSTON (AP) — Rap superstar Travis Scott was questioned on Monday in a deposition he is giving in connection with hundreds of lawsuits that were filed against him and others over the deaths and injuries at the 2021 Astroworld festival.
Scott was questioned in Houston during a deposition that could take several days to complete, two people with knowledge about the litigation said.
Lawyers and others connected to the lawsuits are under a gag order, preventing them from saying little beyond what happens during court hearings.
An attorney for Scott did not immediately return an email seeking comment. A spokesperson for Scott said a statement about Monday’s deposition was being prepared.
This was the first time Scott was questioned by attorneys for those who have filed lawsuits since a crowd surge at his Nov. 5, 2021, concert in Houston killed 10 festivalgoers.
Those killed, who ranged in age from 9 to 27, died from compression asphyxia, which an expert likened to being crushed by a car.
Scott’s deposition comes as a judge earlier this year scheduled the first trial from the lawsuits for May 6, 2024. That first trial would take place nearly 2.5 years since the deadly concert.
Documents filed in court in April listed more than 1,500 active cases, many of which were filed against Scott and Live Nation, the concert promoter.
Of these, 992 were cases with physical injuries and 313 were cases of “emotional distress, pain, suffering and mental anguish.” Orthopedic surgeries have been completed in 17 of these cases, with other surgeries recommended in another 21.
Some of the lawsuits have since been settled, including those filed by the families of three of the people killed during the concert.
In June, a grand jury in Houston declined to indict Scott and five other people on any criminal charges related to the deadly concert.
Scott’s deposition on Monday took place on the same day that hip-hop artist Drake, who performed several songs with Scott during the Astroworld concert, was performing in Houston. Drake was also sued in connection with the deadly concert.