Live Nation: Astroworld Festival promoter previously sued, fined for safety violations
It has emerged that the concert promoter behind the tragic Astroworld Festival where eight people died in a stampede has been previously cited for safety issues by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Live Nation Entertainment, arguably the largest live music promoter in the world, has been fined or sued for issues ranging from botched crowd control to equipment issues at various concert venues in the past decade. Authorities are investigating the security measures in place at Friday's music festival headlined by Travis Scott, where eight people aged from 14 to 27 died and hundreds were injured in a crowd surge. MEAWW previously reported how a criminal probe was launched to determine whether people were spiked with drugs at the concert. We also reported how Scott was slammed for allegedly ignoring fans' pleas to stop the concert following the tragedy.
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"Heartbroken for those lost and impacted at Astroworld last night," Live Nation said in a statement, pledging to cooperate with investigations. "We will continue working to provide as much information and assistance as possible to the local authorities as they investigate the situation."
Live Nation Worldwide and Live Nation Entertainment estimated more than 98 million fans attended their shows worldwide in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the live music industry. However, it has now emerged that the promoter was cited and fined for 10 violations from 2016 to 2019, per reports from OSHA obtained by the Houston Chronicle. These included issues involving a ladder, rope, and scaffolding that resulted in a fall at a Connecticut theatre in 2016. Live Nation was also under a Justice Department consent decree for an antitrust violation regarding online sales following its 2010 merger with Ticketmaster, the largest ticket sales company.
That said, Live Nation has also faced several lawsuits in the past, including one by concertgoer Lisa Keri Stricklin, who broke her leg during a stampede at Stefani’s July 23, 2016, concert at the PNC Pavilion in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her lawsuit stated how Stefani made a casual remark about seats being available in a reserved area near the stage, which caused “a stampede rush of patrons from the lawn seating area through the reserved seating area and toward the front of the performance stage, with people knocking over and breaching the security barricades and other security matter, jumping over seats in the reserved seating area, and pouring in through the aisles separating the various sections of the reserved seating area." The suit was reportedly dismissed on March 12, 2019, following an out-of-court settlement.
Among other infractions, Live Nation was fined $4,250 in a settlement for a 2011 accident that saw an employee working as a rigger have his finger crushed while removing a cable. The digit had to be amputated later.
In 2019, the promoter was penalized $5,350 for an accident a year earlier in which "an employee was walking near a staging area and was struck in his head by a 6-foot length of steel metal post when it was tipped over" on September 27, 2018. The employee was hospitalized for bruising and lacerations in his head, per OSHA, reports obtained by the Chronicle.