Families of two dead at Astroworld reach settlement with Travis Scott

The family of Axel Acosta, one of 10 people killed during the crowd crush that occurred at Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival in November of 2021, has now reportedly reached a settlement with “Travis Scott, Live Nation, and others involved in the Astroworld tragedy,” according to our colleagues at The Root. The amount of the settlement hasn’t been disclosed—nor has that of the only other family to settle in their lawsuits so far, that of 16-year-old Brianna Rodriguez, who also died during the event.

The legal situation surrounding Astroworld is, understandably, incredibly complex: Within weeks of the events, several hundred lawsuits had been issued in relation to the tragedy, with subsequent legal efforts working to consolidate many of them down into four basic buckets of complaints: “those who were killed, those who suffered traumatic brain injury, those with bodily injury, and those with PTSD.” There’s also been a wide-ranging gag order applied to anyone involved, out of concern that such statements might taint the eventual jury pool in Texas. (Representatives of some of the plaintiffs have complained that Scott’s post-festival charitable efforts, viewed by some as a way to salvage his reputation after accusations that he has a history of encouraging behavior of the type that helped contribute to the crush, should also be covered under the gag order.)

Since we don’t know how the settlement with the Acosta family shook out, we also don’t know how much responsibility any of the parties involved, including Scott and Live Nation, were assigned for the deaths and injuries that took place at Astroworld. A criminal investigation into the events is reportedly ongoing, but has so far produced no signs of any findings or potential legal action.

Tony Buzbee, the attorney for Acosta’s family, announced the settlement this week, writing on social media that the terms of the settlement are confidential, and that, “Victim Axel Acosta was a beloved son, brother, and student. He was kind and loving. He is greatly missed.”