Live Nation, which is facing hundreds of lawsuits along with rapper Travis Scott over the Astroworld concert tragedy, is concerned that an upcoming documentary on the incident might influence the jury pool.
The organiser and Scott came under fire after a crowd surge at the event led to a stampede that crushed attendees. The incident left 10 dead, eight of whom succumbed the same night. Multiple people were injured as well.
Astroworld concert was held on November 5 and saw a turnout of 50,000 people.
Soon after news of the deaths broke, social media was flooded with videos of the victims and other attendees dropping unconscious, or being taken away by paramedics.
Both Scott and the organisers have been slapped with hundreds of lawsuits alleging negligence and misconduct.
Now, with the civil litigation still pending in court, Live Nation’s lawyers have said that the documentary, Concert Crush: The Travis Scott Festival Tragedy, and the publicity generated from it could “taint the jury pool.”
They have also noted that Rick Ramos, one of the lawyers representing some of the victims’ families, is one of the co-producers of the documentary film.
“The involvement of plaintiffs’ lawyers in the film, and the publicity the filmmakers and producers are trying to generate for it, raise significant issues about efforts to taint the jury pool,” lawyers Neal Manne and Kevin Yankowsky noted in the letter they wrote to District Judge Kristen Hawkins, who is hearing the matter.
However, Live Nation’s attorneys have not sought any legal action against the documentary that is scheduled to release in 11 states in the US, on Friday.
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The film’s director, Charlie Minn, said that the documentary is not a “hit piece” aimed at Travis Scott and added that it highlights the shortcomings on the part of the organisers as well as Scott.
“My job is to make the most truthful, honest, sincere documentary from the victim’s point of view. We need to know about these stories to prevent it from happening again,” Minn told AP.
The film highlights the experiences of concert-goers and what led to the Astroworld incident, in the aftermath of which Scott was removed from the lineup of Coachella.
“It’s hard to explain to friends and family what we saw and what we actually went through and I think (the documentary) will give a lot of people the opportunity, if you weren’t there, to understand,” said Frank Alvarez, who had attended the concert.