Drake Dropped from Astroworld Class Action — Travis Scott, Apple Still On the Hook

Photo Credit: Astroworld

The judge overseeing the Astroworld civil litigation has ruled in Drake’s favor in his request to be dismissed from the lawsuit — but Travis Scott and Apple remain on the hook despite similar dismissal requests.Two and a half years ago, during the 2021 edition of Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival, 10 people were killed in a crowd crush disaster, leading to heightened discussions surrounding crowd safety and emergency protocol for live experiences. Legal proceedings abound for Travis Scott and several companies that promoted and ran the festival, including Apple Inc. But Drake, who appeared on stage alongside Travis during the show, has recently been dismissed from the impending civil proceedings.

Drake was initially named as a defendant in some of the lawsuits filed against Travis Scott and the festival organizers and promoters. Even as the dozens of filings were combined into one lawsuit, Drake’s name carried over as a defendant — but now the presiding Harris County judge, Judge Kristen Hawkins, has granted Drake’s request for removal from all claims in the lawsuit.

Travis Scott filed a similar request, which Judge Hawkins denied. Both artists claimed that, as performers, safety measures were not their responsibility. But Drake’s position as a “guest” rather than the star performer apparently made a big difference; his request was granted, while Travis’ — and even Apple’s similar request — were not.

Besides Drake, Judge Hawkins also dismissed Travis Scott’s record label, Epic Records, from the lawsuit, as well as several other companies. Those who remain as defendants in the lawsuit include Travis Scott’s imprint Cactus Jack Enterprises, LeFlame Enterprises, Front Gate Ticketing Solutions, Apex Security Group, Apple Inc., Sascha Stone Guttfreund, Valle Services, and Valle Security Texas.Last summer, a Harris County grand jury decided that Travis Scott would not face criminal charges over the tragedy, but the civil litigation against him remains and is anticipated to begin this May. Notably, the final police report on the incident, released a month after the grand jury’s decision, seemed to place the majority of the blame for the concert continuing on Travis and his team.

Hundreds of people were injured in the Astroworld incident, while 10 people — including a nine-year-old child — were killed.