In the latest twist in the Astroworld saga, the House Oversight and Reform Committee is launching an investigation into the embattled festival. Astroworld promoter Live Nation is also the subject of the investigation. As reported by the AP, the committee sent Live Nation a formal letter. The committee is seeking information about the company’s role in providing security, security planning, crowd control and when the promoter first was made aware of the tragic circumstances that were unfolding at Astroworld.
The concert promoter has until January 7, 2022 to respond.
“We are writing to request information regarding the tragic events on November 5, 2021, when a stampede crushed concertgoers, killing ten people and injuring hundreds more during Astroworld Music Festival,” the letter addressed to Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said.
Continuing, it stated the following:
We are also concerned by reports about Live Nation’s conduct following Astroworld Festival. Live Nation and its subsidiary reportedly have withheld pay until part-time employees who worked the festival have signed a revised employment contract, correcting the original version signed prior to the festival that was dated 2018. The revision makes it clear that the contract, which includes a broad provision releasing Live Nation from liability, applies to the 2021 festival.
You can read the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s letter to Live Nation in full here.
Eight people were confirmed dead the night of the concert, and an additional two have died in the weeks following the festival. A medical examiner is currently investigating the causes of death of the deceased, who ranged in age from 14 to 27. Scott has expressed his devastation of the tragedies on social media, and has pledged to cover the funeral expenses of the Astroworld victims.
In his first interview since Astroworld, Travis Scott said he “didn’t know” that Astroworld had been deemed a “mass casualty event” until after the first police press conference. He recently lost a sponsorship deal with Anheuser-Busch, which pulled the plug on Scott’s Cacti Hard Seltzer line.
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