The family of Axel Acosta, one of the people who died after a crowd surge at the Astroworld music festival last year, has settled their lawsuit against Travis Scott and Live Nation.
A confidential settlement was reached by Acosta’s family, according to the family’s attorney Tony Buzbee in a statement Thursday.
“Victim Axel Acosta was a beloved son, brother, and student,” Buzbee said. “He was kind and loving. He is greatly missed. Please keep his family in your prayers.”
The suit was filed by Buzbee in November 2021 and sought more than $750 million in damages on behalf of at least 125 victims, including Acosta. It said the 21-year-old was “crushed” by a crowd of about 50,000 people pushing toward the stage during the festival on Nov. 5, 2021, in Houston, Texas. Acosta went into cardiac arrest before getting trampled by the crowd, and the music continued for “almost forty minutes” as Acosta lay on the ground, according to the complaint. A medical examiner determined his cause of death was compression asphyxia.
Ten people died in the crowd, including a 9-year-old boy, and over 2,000 people needed medical treatment.
“The victims on that night went to Astroworld for fun,” the suit said. “Neither they nor their families were ever warned that they were walking into an extremely dangerous situation.”
In an interview last year with radio host Charlamagne Tha God, the rapper said he did not immediately know the severity of the situation at the festival.
“At the end of the day, these fans are like family, so you feel like you just lost something. You do these shows, honestly, for people to have the best experience,” Scott said. “And just to think that something like this happened, you just try to figure out... just wrap everything around.”
Scott offered to pay for the funeral costs of the victims. He also announced festival attendees were eligible to receive one month of free virtual therapy through BetterHelp, prompting critics to question if it was just a business partnership.
Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against Scott and Live Nation. In December 2021, Scott filed a “general denial” of these claims and asked for multiple suits to be dismissed.