HOUSTON – The Harris County judge overseeing the Astroworld civil litigation has denied requests by Apple, Travis Scott, and two of his companies to be removed as defendants.
On April 8 and 10, Judge Kristen Hawkins responded to motions for dismissal filed by multiple individuals and companies named as defendants in some of the lawsuits that followed the deadly Astroworld tragedy in 2021 by issuing a series of judgments earlier this week.
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The orders were issued in anticipation of a trial scheduled to commence in May, which aims to seek compensation for the death of one of the 10 individuals who lost their lives in the tragic crowd crush incident.
Last week, KPRC 2 reported that Travis Scott, along with Apple, Live Nation, and rapper Drake all requested to be dismissed from the lawsuits, claiming that they did not contribute to the planning or have control over the security or safety measures during the event.
Apple Inc., in its March 11 filing, denied involvement in the concert’s planning, stating its role was “limited to Travis Scott’s performance, which was just one of many during the two-day event.” Apple criticized the plaintiffs’ “lack of evidence” to support their claim that the concert constituted a joint venture between the tech company and Scott. Apple also addressed a claim made by ASM that one of its livestream cameras may have obstructed the audience area, further reducing available space. Lawyers stated that Apple was contracted to livestream the concert on Nov. 2, 2021, three days before the show.
In Travis Scott’s filing, his attorneys claimed, “Performers are not expected to render special protection to the audience, nor to safeguard them from the rest of the crowd.” His attorneys further argue Scott was a performer and not responsible for crowd safety and management.
Judge Hawkins ultimately denied both claims. Although she did not detail why, several companies, including Epic Records, Travis Scott’s record label, and rapper Drake were dismissed from the lawsuit.
In addition, Darryl Platt, Eighteentwentysix LLC, Epic Records, ParaDocs Worldwide Inc, Re:Source Event Group, Scoremore LLC, and Scoremore MGMT LLC were also dismissed from the litigation.
Those who remain in the lawsuit include Travis Scott’s businesses Cactus Jack Enterprises LLC, LeFlame Enterprises Inc., along with, Front Gate Ticketing Solutions LLC, Apex Security Group, Apple Inc., Sascha Stone Guttfreund, Valle Services LLC, and Valle Security Texas LLC.
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