The legal floodgates are starting to open — Travis Scott and Live Nation have just been sued by somebody alleging they were injured during Astroworld … the first claim of what may prove to be many more to come.
A guy named Manuel Souza already lawyered up and reportedly filed suit Saturday in Harris County District Court — claiming he was hurt during the madness that unfolded … and alleging both negligence and gross negligence on behalf of Trav, LN and others he lists as defendants.
In his docs, obtained by Billboard, Souza says the tragedy was “predictable and preventable” — due, in part, to what he characterizes as warning signs earlier in the day that he says should’ve been red flags to festival organizers … but which were allegedly ignored.
Souza describes how people first stampeded their way into NRG Park when things were first opening up … with folks allegedly climbing over security gates and trampling over one another. Despite this, Souza claims nothing was done to further address or curtail things.
He goes on to allege that concert organizers made a conscious effort to let the show go on, despite clear evidence all around them that people were in serious distress … and suffering “serious obvious injury.” Souza believes they purposely chose this route, while claiming they were well aware of the rising risk that was escalating by the minute during the night.
As for why Souza thinks Travis is at fault here … it’s not entirely clear what he’s claiming Trav did or didn’t do during the show that led to what Souza believes was avoidable. He does cite Travis’ history of encouraging violence among fans at past concerts of his, whihch Souza says has led to violence and people getting hurt. But beyond that … it doesn’t appear he connects specific dots in this instance as to why TS, specifically, is to blame.
It’s also not entirely clear what injuries Souza is claiming were inflected against himself, but he does repeatedly cite the 8 dead and dozens of others who were also hurt … while going on to claim that profit was chosen over the safety and well-being of concertgoers.
Souza is suing for at least a million dollars in damages. We’re working on getting a copy of the lawsuit ourselves — we’ve reached out to Live Nation and Travis for comment.
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