As lawsuits against Travis Scott and concert organizers mount following the deadly disaster at his Astroworld music festival, the rapper has canceled a headliner appearance at a Las Vegas festival this weekend.
First reported by Variety, a source close to Scott confirmed to BuzzFeed News that he will not be attending Day N Vegas, where he was scheduled to close out the show Saturday night.
In Houston on Friday, the Astroworld crowd of approximately 50,000 people surged toward the stage during Scott's set, resulting in what officials described as a “mass casualty event.” Eight people, ranging in age from 14 to 27, died, and 13 people, including 5 people under the age of 18, were hospitalized as a result of injuries sustained at the festival, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Saturday.
As of Monday afternoon, 20 lawsuits have been filed in Harris County District Court in relation to the Astroworld disaster. These lawsuits accuse the individuals and corporations behind the music festival of negligence and gross negligence that caused the plaintiffs to be injured. Scott has been named personally in 17 of these lawsuits. In one of the lawsuits, concertgoer Manuel Souza accuses Scott of encouraging violence during his set. All of the lawsuits name as a defendant Live Nation Entertainment, the company responsible for organizing the event.
On Saturday, Scott said he was "absolutely devastated" by what happened.
In a statement Monday, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said he met with Scott and his head of security on Friday prior to the concert and “expressed [his] concerns regarding public safety.” He described the meeting as “brief and respectful,” but the chief added that police are conducting a criminal investigation into what happened at Astroworld.
Live Nation said Monday that the company and ScoreMore Shows, another of the organizers, “have been working to provide local authorities with everything they need from us in order to complete their investigation and get everyone the answers they are looking for.”
The company said it will fully refund tickets to the music festival and plans to set up “a health fund to help with costs for medical expenses.”
In a statement released via his representatives Monday, Scott said that he will personally cover all of the funeral costs for those who died at Astroworld. He will also be partnering with online therapy provider BetterHelp to supply one month of free one-on-one therapy for festival attendees.
"Travis remains in active conversations with the city of Houston, law enforcement and local first responders to respectfully and appropriately connect with the individuals and families of those involved," Scott's spokesperson said. "These are the first of many steps Travis plans on taking as a part of his personal vow to assist those affected throughout their grieving and recovery process."