Travis Scott Concert: Who is liable?

Nov. 5, 2021, eight people died and more injured at a Travis Scott concert in Houston, Tx. as a result of crowd surge. Since then, many civil suits have been filed against the concert promoter as well as the performer. Criminal charges have not yet been filed as of this memo.

Who is responsible, if anyone, for these deaths? In all likelihood, the concert promoter and any other companies involved in the setup and security. The performer may also be liable civilly. Criminal charges are possible, but they are unlikely to succeed.

Live Nation, the promoter, is being sued for negligence. They were responsible for density of the crowd and configuration of the stage area.

The legal standard is whether they should have known that there was danger and should have taken actions to prevent the foreseeable tragedy. Did they take steps to mitigate injury or death before or during the concert?

Video taken prior to the concert and during the concert pointed to a lack of safety and security. Ticketing counters were rushed with many getting through without checks. Tens of thousands were in the crowd without clear ingress or egress routes for paramedics and security.

The performer is also possibly liable. The question turns on whether he helped create an unsafe environment, which he should have known could cause injury or death.

The evidence against the performer centers on statements he made during the concert, calling for the crowd to "rage" and make the "ground shake," while it was clear he was aware that there were injuries in the crowd.

The criminal charge would be involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors would need to show that the defendants actually knew how dangerous the situation was, allowed it to continue, and someone is killed. It's a higher standard of proof needed than civil liability.

More evidence would be needed to determine if anyone actually knew about the dangerous conditions and injuries and were in a place to stop it. The performer has already refuted this saying he couldn't actually see the crowd due to the stage lights.

Bottom line: It's very likely the promoter will be civilly liable. The performer may be civilly liable. More information would be needed to determine if anyone is criminally liable.