Last year, before anyone could’ve predicted its tragic fate, Shanazia Williamson and her husband, Jarawd Owens, traveled from Dayton, Ohio, to attend Astroworld, rapper Travis Scott’s annual festival in his hometown of Houston, Texas. At the time, Williamson was pregnant.
Rolling Stone reported Thursday that Williamson miscarried as a result of a fatal crowd surge that claimed the lives of 10 other festival-goers and reportedly left thousands seeking medical treatment. Now, she’s suing Scott: “While in attendance at the festival, Shanazia was trampled and crushed resulting in horrific injuries and ultimately the death of her and Jarawd’s unborn child,” the lawsuit says. “In addition, Shanazia sustained injuries to her shoulder, back, leg, chest, stomach and other parts of her body.”
The suit was reportedly filed last December, and names Travis Scott, promoters Live Nation and ScoreMore, security company Valle Services SMG, ASM Global, and the Harris County Sports and Convention corporation.
“Defendants’ failure to plan, design, manage, operate, staff, and supervise the event was a direct and proximate cause of Shanazia’s injuries and death of her and Jarawd’s unborn child,” the suit stipulates. It also alleges that the lack of adequate security and medical personnel, in addition to overall poor planning, proved the defendants were guilty of negligence.
The couple’s attorneys, Jason Itkin and Kurt Arnold, declined to comment on the case, noting the gag order issued in February that limited how much information lawyers are able to publicly divulge regarding the number of ongoing Astroworld cases. However, according to a new count conducted by attorneys representing those injured in one of the deadliest concert disasters in history, more than 4,900 people—a significantly higher total than what was previously recorded—were reportedly harmed.
In addition to the nearly a dozen people who died, the new filing also cited that 732 attendees claimed they required “extensive medical treatment,” while 1,649 sought less extensive care. An additional 540 people were listed as “other,” and their injuries are currently being reviewed. What constitutes “medical treatment” is explicitly clear and could range from hospitalizations to treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
All defendants named in the suit—with the exception of Valle Services—have previously and repeatedly denied all accountability in the tragedy. It should be emphasized that Scott has quite a history of inciting violence at his shows, dating back to 2015, and multiple videos and photos of the violent surge appear to show the rapper not only continuing on with the show, but offering little aid, despite several apparent signals of distress.
Immediately following the festival, Scott said he would cover the funeral costs of all of the victims who lost their lives at the show. But more than half of the families rejected his offer, saying they were insulted by what they thought to be a publicity stunt. Scott also offered one free month of therapy via BetterHelp, an online therapy company with whom he had a partnership, though it was widely questioned whether or not Scott would monetarily benefit from said partnership as other celebrity sponsors reportedly have.
Just six months after the Astroworld tragedy, Scott performed publicly for the first time at a concert in Miami last weekend, is set to appear at the Primavera Sound festivals in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil in November, and welcomed a son in February—his second child with billionaire Kylie Jenner. So, although it’s estimated that Scott could lose millions in these lawsuits, it seems like he’s doing just fine.