HOUSTON – A concertgoer is suing musical artists Travis Scott and Drake and others, alleging negligence and premises liability for the deadly stampede at the Astroworld Festival 2021.
Court records show that as the two year anniversary of the tragedy neared, numerous suits over the incident were filed.
Plaintiff Yarrnick R. Randle filed the lawsuit in Harris County District Court against Jacques Bermon Webster, II, also known as Travis Scott Aubrey Drake Graham, also known as Drake, Cactus Jack Records, ASM Global, ASM Global, Parent, Mark Miller, Keith Butler, Scoremore, Scoremore Holdings, Scoremore MGMT, Sascha Stone Guttfreund, Live Nation Worldwide, Live Nation Entertainment, Live Nation Marketing, Darryl Platt, Trey Hicks, doing business as Trey Hicks Public Relations, Valle Security Texas, Contemporary Services Corporation, Unified Command, AJ Melino & Associates, Eighteentwentysix, Fuse Technical Group, and Apple, citing allegations of negligence and premises liability.
According to court documents, on November 5, 2021, Randle was an attendee of the Astroworld Festival 2021 at NRG Park in Houston. The lawsuit states that there were more than 50,000 people present at the event, and when artist Travis Scott took the stage, the crowd rushed towards the main stage, causing a deadly stampede that killed at least 10 people and left hundreds more injured. Randle claims to have been among those at the event who were trampled and crushed, leaving him severely injured.
Crowd turnout for the event was already overwhelming, and the lawsuit says that during the concert, numerous tickletless individuals breached security to enter the venue, causing a dangerous condition. The lawsuit says that this behavior was encouraged by defendant Scott and was at least tolerated by the other defendants. The crowd reportedly grew so large and aggressive that the defendants lost control of the situation. Despite this, the defendants chose to continue the concert, with artists Drake and Travis allegedly inciting the crowd to storm the stage, causing the dangerous surge. The lawsuit says that the concert continued for approximately 40 minutes after the deadly stampede.
The lawsuit attributes the tragedy to the defendants' collective negligence and failure to properly plan and manage the event. The lawsuit cites numerous forms of negligence by the defendant, including failure to provide a safe environment for concertgoers, failure to adequately staff the event, failure to provide proper security, failure to properly train employees, failure to exercise ordinary care, and creating a dangerous condition.
Randle is seeking damages for pain, suffering, mental anguish and medical expenses, plus punitive damages, interest, court costs and any other relief the court deems proper. He is represented by attorneys David P. Matthews, Conrad E. Adams, and Lauryn B. Singhoff of Matthews & Associates in Houston.
Harris County District Court case number 2023-76879 / Court: 55