The family of a 21-year-old man who died during the crowd crush at Astroworld in 2021 has settled with rapper Travis Scott and Live Nation.
Axel Acosta’s family filed a lawsuit against Scott and the entertainment company in November seeking $750 million in damages. Acosta was one of ten people who died when the crowd surged at the Houston event while Scott, the events’ creator, was performing.
The computer science student had traveled from Washington to Texas for the event. He died “from compressive asphyxiation, as the air was squeezed out of his body amid the crowd surge,” reports The Hill.
In a statement to KHOU 11, the Acosta family’s lawyer Tony Buzbee said the terms of the settlement were confidential.
“The Buzbee Law Firm announced today that the claims brought by the family of Axel Acosta against Travis Scott, Live Nation, and others involved in the Astroworld tragedy have settled,” Buzbee said. “Victim Axel Acosta was a beloved son, brother, and student. He was kind and loving. He will be greatly missed. Please keep his family in your prayers.”
More than 20 people were hospitalized after the event while hundreds more were injured.
Scott immediately faced heavy backlash for not stopping his performance sooner and prioritizing crowd safety at the event. His previous arrest and conviction for encouraging fans to rush the stage at concerts in 2015 and 2017 as well as the stampede at Astroworld in 2019 further deteriorated public opinion of the rapper.
In the weeks after the fatal concert, approximately 500 lawsuits were filed against Scott and Live Nation. The Texas Judicial Panel On Multidistrict Litigation agreed the performer and company could consolidate their numerous pre-trial hearing to be heard before one judge. Scott has filed a motion for dismissal arguing he was not legally liable for the deaths and injuries. His motion was denied.
The larger case joins 387 separate lawsuits representing about 2,800 alleged victims, per Billboard.
The Acosta family did not know their son had died at Astroworld until a photo of Axel circulated online. When news of the mass casualty event broke, Axel’s father Edgar called his cell phone which Axel did not answer.
“Axel's phone was later found in the lost and found collection at the Astroworld Festival site. Edgar said he was calling hospitals, but was still told not to worry because his son's name was not on the list of dead or injured,” per KHOU-TV Houston.
Approximately 50,000 people attended 2021 Astroworld.
Scott publicly addressed the mass casualty event for the first time in an interview in December.
“I just really go off the fans’ energy,” he said. “You can only help with what you can see, you know?”
