Travis Scott denies liability for Astroworld, asks for dismissal from lawsuits
Rapper Travis Scott has requested to be dismissed from several Astroworld Festival lawsuits that have named the Houston-born rapper as a defendant in their filings.
Scott, whose real name is Jacques B. Webster II, released a legal response Monday denying all allegations in the 11 different lawsuits set against him. The statement noted that he will likely be filing many more such dismissals in the future,
a representative of Scott told Rolling Stone. Among the suits asked for dismissal are filings by Bhaghu Shahani, father of
22-year-old Bharti Shahani, one of
10 concert-goers that died a crowd surged at the
Nov. 5 concert at NRG Park that left hundreds injured.
Scott is named in nearly all of the hundreds of lawsuits filed following the tragedy, many alleging negligence, misconduct and other claims against the Houston rapper and concert organizers. However, Scott's representative told Rolling Stone that he "is not legally liable" for the incident. A document obtained by NBC News shows the dismissal filing also includes Scott's company Cactus Jack Records LLC,
according to KPRC 2.
Astroworld concert promoters Live Nation and ScoreMore on Monday also denied all allegations against them. They join the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation, which owns NRG Park and has denied culpability for the event. Unlike Scott, these parties have not filed for dismissals as of this writing.
Nearly 300 lawsuits have been filed in Harris County against Scott and Astroworld organizers, according to Rolling Stone. On Monday,
Houston law firm Brent c00n & Associates filed a $10 billion lawsuit on behalf of more than 1,547 concert-goers. The firm has filed a request with the Harris County District Court system to consolidate all the cases involved and a hearing is scheduled for Dec. 13.
Last week,
attorneys filed a joint motion to Texas' Supreme Court to consolidate all Astroworld cases, including those yet to filed, before a single judge for pretrial purposes. The combined lawsuits involve 1,250 plaintiffs.
Scott has hired renowned lawyer Daniel Petrocelli to lead his legal team against the mounting lawsuits. Live Nation has employed Houston law firm Susman Godfrey to head up its legal defense.