Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines November 19
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Texas attorney Thomas J. Henry filed a massive lawsuit on Thursday on behalf of 280 victims of the Astroworld Festival, which left 10 people dead and injured hundreds more.
The civil lawsuit was filed by Henry's law firm on Thursday in Harris County, Texas and seeks up to $2 billion in damages. The defendants include rappers Travis Scott and Drake, Live Nation, NRG Stadium, Apple Inc., Scott's Cactus Jack record label, and more.
According to Henry, another 120 victims have contacted his firm seeking representation for damages caused by attending the concert.
The lawsuit, obtained by Fox News, refers to Astroworld as "one of the deadliest crowd-control disasters at a concert in the United States."
ASTROWORLD TRAGEDY: TRAVIS SCOTT, DRAKE, APPLE AND LIVE NATION HIT WITH $750M LAWSUIT
On behalf of 280 plaintiffs, Henry claims that the reported crowd surge, which caused many in the crowd to be "trampled, trapped and crushed," could have been prevented. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of gross negligence.
Festival goers head into the VIP area prior to Travis Scott performing during day one of the Astroworld Music Festival at NRG Park on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in Houston. ( Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
"The Defendants stood to make an exorbitant amount of money of this event, yet they chose to cut corners, cut costs, and put the festival attendees at risk. Plaintiffs collectively herein bring this lawsuit seeking damages not to exceed $2 billion," the lawsuit states.
The filing goes on to claim that the victims have "suffered severe bodily injuries" which have "had a serious effect on the Plaintiffs' health and well-being."
The court papers also claim plaintiffs are seeking relief for a number of things, including pain and suffering, medical expenses, physical impairment and disfigurement, and loss of earnings.
"My clients want to ensure the defendants are held responsible for their actions, and they want to send the message to all performers, event organizers, and promoters that what happened at Astroworld cannot happen again," Henry stated.
Fox News has reached out to the plaintiffs for comment.
Travis Scott performs onstage during the third annual Astroworld Festival at NRG Park on November 5. A reported crowd surge left 10 people dead and hundreds more injured. (Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images)
The $2 billion lawsuit comes just days after another $750 million complaint was filed in a Houston Civil Court by high-powered attorney Tony Buzbee on behalf of more than 125 fans – including the family of one of the deceased. That lawsuit alleges Scott and show organizers were negligent in their planning of the festival, which left 10 dead, including a 9-year-old boy.
All of the concertgoers who died were between ages 9 and 27.
County Judge Lina Hidalgo — the top elected official in Harris County, which includes Houston — had previously proposed a third-party probe that would look at the planning and execution of crowd control tactics at the festival, founded and headlined by the rap superstar.
The Harris County administrator will work with other city and county entities to review security, fire and other safety plans at the county-owned NRG Park, where the festival was held.
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A visitor writes a note at a memorial outside of the canceled Astroworld festival at NRG Park. (Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
Just last week, personal injury attorney Ben Crump also announced a lawsuit on behalf of more than 100 Astroworld attendees – and described the harrowing ordeal at the sold-out festival of 50,000 people as "a failure of epic proportions."
Last week, a rep for Scott told Fox News in a statement that he is still "actively exploring routes of connection" with families affected by the tragedy.
"Over the last week, Travis Scott and his team have been actively exploring routes of connection with each and every family affected by the tragedy through the appropriate liaisons," the statement read.
"He is distraught by the situation and desperately wishes to share his condolences and provide aid to them as soon as possible, but wants to remain respectful of each family’s wishes on how they’d best like to be connected," it continued.
The crowd watches as Travis Scott performs at Astroworld Festival. Officials declared a "mass casualty incident" just after 9 p.m. Friday during the festival where an estimated 50,000 people were in attendance, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña told reporters at a news conference. (Jamaal Ellis/Houston Chronicle via AP)
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"To those families who would like to reach out directly to his team, please send an email to the below address where we will have a team on hand to assist," the statement noted before adding the address, AW21information@gmail.com.
Fox News' Julius Young contributed to this report.
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