A Dayton, Ohio woman and her husband have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Travis Scott and Live Nation after losing their unborn child following the 2021 Astroworld tragedy.
According to a report from Rolling Stone, plaintiffs, Shanazia Williamson, and her husband, Jarawd Owens, were expecting a child when in attendance at the festival, which took place at NRG Park in Houston, Texas on November 5, 2021. According to court documents obtained by Rolling Stone, Williamson and Owens allege that, while at the festival, Williamson was “trampled and crushed resulting in horrific injuries and ultimately the death of her and Jarawd’s unborn child”.
The suit reportedly adds that “Shanazia sustained injuries to her shoulder, back, leg, chest, stomach and other parts of her body” and that the “defendants’ failure to plan, design, manage, operate, staff, and supervise the event was a direct and proximate cause of Shanazia’s injuries and death of their unborn child”.
Meanwhile, in addition to Scott and Live Nation, defendants in the suit reportedly include ScoreMore, security company Valle Services SMG, ASM Global, and the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation. Williamson and Owens reportedly allege that the companies were negligent and that the festival had inadequate security and medical personnel.
It can be recalled that Astroworld 2021 ended in chaos on November 5, 2021, when multiple people were killed and hundreds got injured as a result of a stampede toward the stage.
The initial death count was eight, but in the days following the tragedy, two more deaths were recorded. The medical examiner ruled that the official cause of death of the ten victims was compression asphyxia. Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed in the wake of the mass casualty event. However, Scott and Live Nation have denied allegations that they are responsible for the deaths and injuries sustained at Astroworld.
Travis Coming Back to Public Eye
Ever since the tragedy, Scott kept a low profile until recently. He freshly started the process of returning to the public eye, performing at afterparties, and seemingly teasing a new album with billboards. He performed on stage for the first time since the tragedy at a concert in Miami last weekend, May 7, 2022.
This weekend, May 14, 2022, he is scheduled to perform at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards. The rapper addressed the Astroworld tragedy in March this year with the formation of Project HEAL, a philanthropic investment endeavor that includes an event safety initiative.
It is to be noted that Scott being billed to perform at Billboard Music Awards is the doing of Diddy.
“I’m ‘uncanceling’ the canceled,” Diddy, who is an Executive Producer of the event said, referring to the backlash against Travis.
It’s fitting that Diddy would be one of the people standing with Travis and trying to bring him back to the stage. Diddy is familiar with being lambasted as the face of a venue tragedy, because of a 1991 City College of New York incident, which is similar to what happened at Astroworld. 30 years ago, nine people died and 29 more were seriously injured after an overflow of people inside the venue causing people to be trampled. Diddy and Heavy D were co-sponsoring a celebrity basketball game and concert with superstars like LL Cool J and Mike Tyson in attendance.
Diddy, who has an idea of the weight of the guilt Travis may be feeling, is trying to look out for him. It’s unclear what effect Astroworld will have on Travis’ Billboard viability and future concert prospects. There are a lot of questions to be answered, but Diddy is trying to help Travis back into the spotlight out of subtle solidarity.
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