After Astroworld deaths, Travis Scott offers refunds and cancels Day N Vegas concert
After last week's crushing tragedy at Houston's Astroworld Festival, rapper Travis Scott reportedly pulled out of this weekend's Day N Vegas festival in Las Vegas and will refund all ticket fees for Astroworld.
Friday's incident, which occurred during Scott's headlining set at NRG Park, claimed eight lives between the ages of 14 and 27, and many more injured. Sources told Variety that Scott was "too distraught to play," though several attendees are already suing Scott, fellow rapper Drake, and Live Nation, the Astroworld promoter.
Representatives for Live Nation did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Day N Vegas promoter AEG Presents declined to comment on Scott's status at the festival. The other main artists on the show include Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, the Creator.
"Every time he could make out something from what was going on, he would stop the show and help them get the help they need," Scott said in a video posted Saturday. "I could never imagine the seriousness of the situation."
Houston police initially declared a "mass casualty" event at Astroworld at 9:38 p.m. Friday, 32 minutes after Scott took the stage, but Scott completed his 25-song setlist at 10:15 p.m.
Thomas J. Henry, an attorney representing Austin concert goer Kristian Paredes, said in a statement announcing his lawsuit against Scott, Drake, Live Nation and NRG stadium agent Harris County Sports & Convention Corp. that “ Live musical performances are meant to inspire catharsis, not tragedy.
“Many of these concert goers were looking forward to this event for months and deserved a safe environment in which to have fun and enjoy the night,” he added. "Instead, his night was one of fear, injury and death."
A second lawsuit, from concert goer Manuel Souza, names Scott, Live Nation and concert promoter ScoreMore.
Scott has twice faced criminal charges for inciting crowds to behave wildly at previous concerts, after including a 2015 performance at Lollapalooza and after a 2017 show in Arkansas. Video from Friday's show presentation at Astroworld showed desperate fans yelling to stop the concert, as an ambulance approached the crowd as Scott performed.
Meanwhile, Live Nation shares, just beginning to rebound from pandemic-era lows, fell as much as 8% on Monday morning after the tragedy.
Live Nation said in a statement Saturday that it was “heartbroken over the lost and shocked at Astroworld last night. We will continue to work to provide as much information and assistance as possible to local authorities as they investigate the situation. "
