Astroworld: 9-year-old sustained 'life-threatening injuries' after being 'trampled': LIVE UPDATES
Rapper Travis Scott announced that he will be paying for the funerals of the victims as well as digital therapy in partnership with BetterHelp to anyone affected by the tragedy.
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A 9-year-old child is currently in "a medically-induced coma" after he was "trampled" at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival on Friday and "sustained life-threatening injuries," according to attorneys representing the child's parents.
Ben Crump of Ben Crump Law as well as Alex and Bob Hilliard of Hilliard Martinez Gonzalez stated on Monday that they were retained as counsel by the child's parents. The child's name has not been released, only the initials "EB."
Per the lawyers, the child was placed into the coma "in an attempt to combat his brain trauma."
"The suffering that this family is going through is immeasurable," Crump said in a statement obtained by Fox News. "This little boy had his whole life ahead of him – a life that is currently hanging in the balance because of the reckless mismanagement that ensued at the Astroworld Festival.
"We ask everyone to send up the most powerful prayers they can as this family tries to grapple with the undoable damage that has been done to their son. We demand justice for EB, his family, and all of our clients that left Astroworld with trauma," the statement concluded.
Kim Kardashian has spoken out about the Astroworld tragedy on Friday that left eight festival goers dead.
"We are keeping all of the victims, families and loved ones impacted in our prayers for healing - as well as Travis who we know cares so much about his fans and is truly devastated. ” Kardashian wrote in a tweet on Monday.
“Absolutely heartbroken for the lives who were lost and anyone who was hurt at Astroworld,” she added in a follow-up tweet. “Just like all of you, our family is in shock by the tragedy.”
Travis Scott appears in Fortnite. (Getty)
Fortnite has removed a Travis Scott music emote from its item shop following his Houston Astroworld festival that left eight people dead.
Emotes are mannerisms and dance moves characters can perform in the online game and Scott’s “Out West” emote has been removed from the game’s item shop and temporarily halted on the shop’s Daily section.
“It’s known that the ‘Daily’ section of the Item Shop has been disabled,” the Fortnite Status Twitter account explained on Monday. “This is intentional and the ‘Daily’ section will return with the next Item Shop refresh.”
A petition calling for Travis Scott to be removed as a headliner at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, in April, is gaining support following the deadly events in Houston, Texas.
The memorandum posted to Change.org has received thousands of signatures in the wake of a crowd surge that resulted in eight deaths during the “Sicko Mode” performer’s showing at the Astroworld music festival at NRG Park.
As of the posting of this update, the petition has garnered 7,371 signatures. Its goal is 7,500 signatures, which petition creators believe will “more likely get a reaction from the decision maker!”
The Houston Police Department released a statement indicating that its Chief of Police, Troy Finner, spoke with Scott and the rapper’s head of security prior to the main event:
“I expressed my concerns regarding public safety and that in my 31 years of law enforcement experience I have never seen a time with more challenges facing citizens of all ages, to include a global pandemic and social tension throughout the nation,” he said.
"I asked Travis Scott and his team to work with HPD for all events over the weekend and to be mindful of his team’s social media messaging on any unscheduled events. The meeting was brief and respectful, and a chance for me to share my public safety concerns as Chief of Police."
"As I have stated previously, our criminal investigation continues. We are asking for everyone to be considerate of the grieving families during this incredible difficult time," added Finner. "Please continue to lift them up in prayer.”
Live Nation issued a statement after it was named in lawsuits from victims of the Astroworld Festival tragedy.
"We continue to support and assist local authorities in their ongoing investigation so that both the fans who attended and their families can get the answers they want and deserve, and we will address all legal matters at the appropriate time," the statement provided to Fox News reads.
The statement follows a previous address the company made on social media the night after the incident took place.
"Heartbroken for those lost and impacted at Astroworld last night," Saturday's statement from Live Nation reads. "We will continue working to provide as much information and assistance as possible to the local authorities as they investigate the situation."
Travis Scott performs during 2021 Astroworld Festival at NRG Park on November 05, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Erika Goldring/WireImage)
Fox News confirmed that Travis Scott is vowing to cover the costs of funeral expenses for the eight victims who died during his Astroworld Festival performance on Friday night.
The rapper also partnered with the therapy service BetterHelp, which will provide free one-on-one online therapy with a licensed therapist to those who want it. He is also working closely with NAMI, MHA National, and MHA of Greater Houston (Mental Health America) to direct all those in need to proper mental health services.
According to a press release announcing the news, this is one of many steps the rapper will take in order to personally help those who were impacted by the Astroworld Festival tragedy.
A video of a past concert in which rapper Travis Scott encouraged his fans to attack a concertgoer who tried to steal his shoe is going viral in the wake of the deadly incident at his Astroworld 2021 Festival.
According to the New York Post, the video was taken at a concert at Openair Frauenfeld in Switzerland. The video shows Scott jumping into the crowd before returning to stage and singling out an attendee who he claims tried to steal his shoe while he was crowd surfing. He tells his fans to "F--- him up!" several times, prompting the person to eat blows from the audience as he made his way to the safety of a security guard.
Investigators are expected to examine the design of safety barriers and the use of crowd control in determining what led to a crush of spectators who were there to see Scott and other artists perform.
Eight people died by the time the show ended and hundreds more were injured. Authorities planned to use videos, witness interviews and a review of concert procedures to figure out what went wrong. However, one thing that seems to be consistent throughout witnesses’ stories is that the crowd rushed the stage, squeezing people too tightly for them to breathe, once Scott took the stage around 9 p.m.
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Sources have told Variety that the performer has made the decision to refund the tickets to all those who attended the Astroworld Festival on Friday, Nov. 5.
The decision comes after eight people died in what authorities are calling a "mass casualty” event among the more than 50,000 attendees who came out to see Scott and other performers play. Ages of the victims reportedly range from 14-27.
Meanwhile, the outlet reports that Scott is too distraught to play a planned show at this weekend’s Day N Vegas Festival. The rapper was meant to headline Saturday night.
The chief of police in Houston, who knows Travis Scott personally, reportedly met privately with the rapper in his trailer before his Astroworld Festival performance to convey concerns about the energy in the crowd.
Chief Troy Finner reportedly told Mr. Scott that devoted fans who had been flooding into the NRG Park for the event were at risk as security and medical staff were worried that the rowdy crowd could quickly get out of control, according to the New York Times.
Eventually, that was the case as the crowd grew to such an enormous size that staff members exhausted their resources to help as they tried to help dozens of people who were in overdosing, getting crushed and more. Meanwhile, Scott continued on with the show.
Rapper Travis Scott was performing on stage when what authorities are calling a "mass casualty incident" occurred. (Erika Goldring/WireImage)
Travis Scott was charged twice in the past for encouraging his fans to flaunt security and safety guidelines at his shows.
In the wake of Friday’s Astroworld Festival performance that saw eight people die and several others suffer injuries, eyes are turning to the performer's past conduct. People were hurt when the packed crowd surged forward Friday. Now, many have been taking to social media to discuss and share videos from other live performances from the rapper in which he encouraged rule-breaking and even violence at his shows.
The tragedy has also reminded people that the performer has been in serious legal trouble for his conduct at past shows, specifically, incidents in 2015 and 2017 in which he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from directives he gave his crowds at two separate shows.
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