Live Nation is aggressively pushing to prevent CEO Michael Rapino from filing over the deadly Astroworld festival crowd, and the live music giant is hoping the Texas Supreme Court will support their efforts.
While all of the wrongful-death lawsuits were settled earlier this year, lawsuits related to hundreds of attendees who were injured at the show are still active. The Astroworld Court had first granted a motion to depose Rapino last April, and Live Nation went to an appeals court to challenge that decision. The appeal was dismissed after the Astroworld plaintiffs' liaison counsel withdrew the filing when the wrongful death cases were settled. By late June, however, a retrial was scheduled for the remaining plaintiffs. Live Nation appealed again, escalating the matter to the Supreme Court last month.
The company argued in the appeal that Rapino “played no role in the Astroworld 2021 festival” and that he “did not have 'unique or superior personal knowledge.' relating to any claim or defense”. The news was first mentioned by Puck.
“Mr. Rapinoe neither attended the festival nor visited the grounds,” counsel for Live Nation wrote in the appeal. “He relied on others, who had superior knowledge of the festival, to accomplish their tasks. In the aftermath of the festival, Mr. Rapinoe's communications were limited to those necessary to carry out his duties as CEO of Live Nation.”
However, the plaintiffs responded to Live Nation's petition last week, arguing that “Rapino's personal involvement was key to establishing the festival.” The plaintiffs wrote that Rapino was a major figure in the detention of Travis Scott in 2018 and 2019, also claiming that “Rapino knew about Scott's dangerous antics.
“Rapino's personal involvement in the 2021 festival must be evaluated in light of his years of experience with Scott,” the plaintiffs' attorney wrote.
Plaintiffs' response referred to some of the details of the mob rush originally reported to the Houston Police Department extensive report about the incident released in 2023. The response refers to an ominous message sent by a security officer named Reece Wheeler to security executive Shawna Boardman, saying “I would like it to be on the record that I did not advise this to continue. Someone's going to end up dead.”
The response also referred to an email Rapino sent to Live Nation executive Brad Wavra immediately after the crowd rush, after Wavra emailed him noting that authorities had not canceled the second day, but noted several cardiac arrests and “5 they know [sic] dead' and asked if the show would continue on Saturday or not.
“Let's wait for the confirmation on the deaths once the declaration is made we can make a decision,” the email said. “If 5 died we would cancel.
“Remarkably, Live Nation claims that Rapino was not the one making the decision about whether to cancel the festival,” the plaintiffs' attorney wrote. “This email proves otherwise, and the plaintiffs want an opportunity to cross-examine Rapino about it.”
The adviser further referred to a private call between Scott and Rapinoe after the festival, noting that Scott spoke about it during his own deposition last year. They called that conversation “central to the need for his testimony,” further noting that “Scott has testified about that conversation, but Rapino's version remains a mystery.
“This is not a case where the CEO merely received business reports and had only final policy authority,” the plaintiffs' attorney wrote. “It is a case in which the witness has unique knowledge of key facts. there is no other way to discover these facts.'
Last week, Live Nation asked the court to give it until August 30 to issue a response to the plaintiffs. A company representative did not immediately respond Rolling Stone's request for comment.
Astroworld's fallout is just one of the major legal actions Live Nation is that he is currently facing. The Justice Department filed a bombshell complaint against the company in May, accusing it of operating as a monopoly and seeking to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster 14 years after they merged in 2010. Ten more states filed suit as plaintiffs earlier this year. month. Live Nation has consistently denied the monopoly allegations.
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