Drake removed from Astroworld lawsuits

Drake has been dismissed from lawsuits relating to the 2021 Astroworld festival tragedy.

Ten people died and hundreds more were injured during the fatal crowd crush at the November 2021 event in Houston, Texas. All of those who died suffered from compression asphyxia.

The Canadian rapper, real name Aubrey Graham, appeared as a special guest during festival founder Travis Scott’s headline set, but attorneys for Drake had argued that since he was not involved in organising the concerts, he was not liable for the casualties that occurred.

“Mr Graham did not receive any security briefings, was not informed of any crowd control issues, injuries or deaths in the crowd, or any stop show orders at any time either before or during his 14-minute performance,” wrote the star’s lawyers.

USA Today reports the Harris County District Court of the 11th civil district granted Drake’s request for a summary judgment in the case and dismissed “all claims asserted against [Drake] by all plaintiffs and intervenors in this multidistrict litigation”.

District judge Kristen Hawkins dismissed seven companies and individuals who had been sued, but denied motions to dismiss that were filed by 10 other companies and individuals, including Apple, which livestreamed the concert, and Scott’s company Cactus Jack Enterprises.

The first trial from the lawsuits is slated for 6 May

In June last year, a grand jury declined to indict Scott, nor anyone else associated with the festival. However, more than 300 lawsuits were filed naming Scott, promoter Live Nation and other companies involved in the event.

Almost 5,000 people have claimed they were injured in the disaster, with lawsuits filed in each of the 24 district courts in Harris County. Nearly every claim alleges negligence such as “failures of safety and security rules, crowd control and emergency response measures, and failures to provide adequate security, supervision, training and care”.

The first trial from the lawsuits is slated for 6 May, while a number of cases have already been settled.

According to court documents, the head of safety for the festival raised concerns about the number of people that could be near the stage, ten days before the event took place.

Earlier this month, a Texas judge ordered Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino to give testimony in the lawsuits brought against his company and others by families of those who died at the festival.

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