Kristian Paredes Austin Texas man sues Travis Scott and Drake for inciting crowd for $1m after sustaining permanent injuries at Astroworld concert.
An Astroworld festival-goer has sued Travis Scott and Drake for over a million dollars, claiming the rappers ‘incited the crowd’ that left him ‘severely injured’ and eight others dead according to a report.
Kristian Paredes, 23, from Austin, Texas, filed the complaint on Sunday accusing the rappers, Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation of negligence according to the dailymail.
According to the complaint, special guest Drake ‘came on stage alongside Travis Scott and helped incite the crowd.’
The concert goer accuses Drake of continuing to perform with Travis Scott ‘as the crowd became out of control’ and ‘while the crowd mayhem continued.’
Paredes is now seeking over $1million for his bodily injuries, some of which he claims is permanent, as well as medical expenses.
They were aware of breakdown lawsuit claims
Paredes says he was at the front of the general admission section, with just a metal barrier separating him from the VIP Section.
He says he felt an ‘immediate push’ as the countdown to Travis Scott’s performance ended and he entered the stage around 9pm.
‘The crowd became chaotic and a stampede began leaving eight dead and dozens including Kristian Paredes severely injured,’ the filing states.
‘Many begged security guards hired by Live Nation Entertainment for help, but were ignored,’ it says.
Paredes says in the lawsuit that the injuries and deaths are due to the ‘negligence, carelessness and recklessness’ of the ‘defendants, their agents, servants and employees, in the ownership, management, maintenance, operation, supervision, and the control of the subject premises.’
He is seeking a trial by jury.
Texas attorney, Thomas J. Henry, who is representing Paredes, told the dailymail, ‘There is no excuse for the events that unfolded at NRG stadium on Friday night.
‘There is every indication that the performers, organizers, and venue were not only aware of the hectic crowd but also that injuries and potential deaths may have occurred. Still, they decided to put profits over their attendees and allowed the deadly show to go on.’
‘Live musical performances are meant to inspire catharsis, not tragedy. Many of these concert-goers were looking forward to this event for months, and they deserved a safe environment in which to have fun and enjoy the evening. Instead, their night was one of fear, injury, and death.’
Scenes from Friday night, show concert goers unconscious while the rapper continued his performance.
Video circulating on Twitter shows fans begging the rapper to stop performing and chanting ‘stop the show’ as concertgoers were being knocked down and crushed by other attendees.
‘Fans were recording the concert and people doing CPR. Fans were yelling at the stage crew around us, saying stop the concert, people are dying. No one listened,‘ ICU nurse and concert attendee Madeline Eskins told Rolling Stone.
‘It was definitely overcrowded. It was insane, honestly. I knew it was just way too crowded – it just got worse and worse as I got closer to Travis Scott performing it got more crowded, more crowded, more crowded.’
Unprepared and inexperienced
She also shared that although they are not to blame for the tragedy, the event’s medical staff were apparently unprepared and inexperienced.
‘Some of these medical staff had little to no experience with CPR – didn’t know how to check a pulse, carotid or femoral,’ Eskins shared on Instagram.
‘Compressions were being done without a pulse check so ppl who had a pulse were getting CPR, but meanwhile there was not enough people to rotate out doing compressions on individuals that were actually pulseless. The medical staff didn’t have the tools to do their jobs and despite the crowd around us trying to get someone to stop the concert they just kept going, even though Travis acknowledged that someone in the crowed needed an ambulance.’
Afterwards, the rapper was seen sobbing. A source close to him told Page Six that he had ‘no idea what was going on, he was on stage performing’.
‘He’s beside himself, I’ve never heard him like that. He was in tears,’ the source added.
Scott, 29, continued to perform after eight people were crushed to death – including two victims aged just 14 and 16 – in what one witness described as a ‘floor of bodies’.
Although he completed his 75-minute performance, at one point Scott was filmed calling for help. In another video he stood on a platform with his microphone while chaos unfolded beneath him.
Approximately 50,000 people attended the sold-out Astroworld event at Houston’s NRG Park. Authorities continue to investigate.
