The House Oversight and Reform Committee is launching an investigation into Live Nation over the 2021 Astroworld Festival, The Washington Post and The Associated Press report. In a letter to Michael Rapino (president and CEO of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.), the Congressional committee members wrote:
Live Nation Entertainment (Live Nation) was the concert promoter reportedly responsible for “planning, staffing, putting up money, securing permits, finding vendors, communicating with local agencies,” for Astroworld Festival.
Recent reports raise serious concerns about whether your company took adequate steps to ensure the safety of the 50,000 concertgoers who attended Astroworld Festival.
The committee is asking Rapino and Live Nation for details on the company’s role in security, crowd control, and safety at the festival, details about pre-show security planning, the “precise time was Live Nation Entertainment first made aware of casualties on the evening of November 5, and what steps were taken in response to that information,” steps to prevent future injury or death at Live Nation events, and more. The committee has set a January 7 for Live Nation to provide the information.
Ten people were killed during the crowd surge that occurred during Travis Scott’s headlining performance at Astroworld. Scott has said he was not aware that people were being killed as he performed. Scott, Live Nation, and other entities are facing many lawsuits from Astroworld attendees.
Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Travis Scott and Live Nation for comment.
