A judge in Texas is set to hear arguments Monday on rap star Travis Scott’s request to be dismissed from a lawsuit over the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival in Houston.
Scott headlined the concert during which 10 people were killed as authorities and festival organizers responded to a large crowd surge and attempted to shut down the show.
Last week, the judge dismissed lawsuits against guest hip-hop artist Drake, along with several other individuals and companies involved in the show.
Lawyers for Scott, whose real name is Jacques Bermon Webster II and also known as “Cactus Jack,” write in the motion to dismiss that he is an entertainer and had no role in providing security or crowd management for the festival.
“Performers are not expected to offer special protection to the public, nor to protect them from the rest of the crowd,” the motion states. “Performing artists, even those who engage in certain promotional activities, do not have inherent experience or specialized knowledge of concert security measures.”
The motion said Scott followed instructions and ended the show after Drake performed one last song because it was feared an abrupt ending could have caused riots, panic and chaos in the crowd.
“Thus, due care also required taking time to end the show appropriately, so that the audience felt satisfied and left in peace,” according to the document.
After an investigation by Houston police, no charges were filed against Scott and a grand jury declined to indict him and five others on any criminal charges related to the deadly concert.
The dead, aged between 9 and 27, died of compression asphyxiation, which one expert likened to being crushed by a car.
The first trial of the actions is scheduled for May 6.
Some of the lawsuits filed by the families of the 10 who died and hundreds of those injured were resolved, including those filed by the families of four of those killed.
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