The family of a 9-year-old boy who is in a medically induced coma due to the injuries he retained at Astroworld Festival has filed a negligence lawsuit against Travis Scott and Live Nation.
Ezra Blount, referred to in the lawsuit as E.B., attended Astroworld with his father, Treston Blount, and “was kicked, stepped on and trampled and nearly crushed to death,” according to the lawsuit filed on Tuesday.
“He is currently in an induced coma on life support and has incurred severe liver, kidney and brain damage,” the suit states. “To his young, growing body, these injuries will have life-long effects, impairing his quality of life and ability to grow and thrive as he would have had he not been subjected to this incident.”
The Blounts are being represented by Ben Crump, a civil rights and personal injury lawyer best known for representing the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.
In his announcement that he would be representing the family on Monday night, Crump said: “The suffering that this family is going through is immeasurable. This little boy had his whole life ahead of him – a life that is currently hanging in the balance because of the reckless mismanagement that ensued at the Astroworld Festival. We ask everyone to send up the most powerful prayers they can as this family tries to grapple with the undoable damage that has been done to their son. We demand justice for EB, his family, and all of our clients that left Astroworld with trauma.”
The Blounts are seeking $1 million for what they call the “grossly negligent conduct” of the defendants, which includes Scott, festival promoters Live Nation and ScoreMore, Scott’s Cactus Jack Records and more. Representatives for Live Nation and ScoreMore did not immediately respond to PvNew‘s request for comment on the suit. Scott’s representatives did not have any comment.
Treston Blount has also set up a GoFundMe page to help aid the family in paying for his hospital bills. In the description of the site, Treston Blount describes that he had Ezra Blount on his shoulders while waiting for Drake to come on stage, and then was crushed by the crowd to the point where he passed out. When he regained consciousness, Ezra Blount was gone. Treston Blount later relocated his son at a hospital, where he is being treated for “swelling in the back of brain damage and trauma to nearly all organs,” according to the GoFundMe page.
Astroworld Festival took a tragic turn on Friday night when the crowd of 50,000 people surged during Scott’s set, resulting in chaos and panic and leaving eight dead and many injured. Scott has since pledged to cover funeral costs for the eight victims, as well as refund all festival goers.
