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Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said the grand jury was
the culmination of 19 months of investigation into the tragedy
at Scott's Astroworld Festival in November 2021.
"Our investigators and prosecutors gave it everything they had
to ensure that the grand jury could reach the truth," Ogg said.
Scott's attorney, Kent Schaffer, said the findings confirmed
Scott was not responsible for the tragedy at the festival.
"Now that this chapter is closed, we hope for the government
efforts to focus on what is most important - stopping future
heartbreaking tragedies like Astroworld from ever occurring
again," Schaffer said in a statement.
Five others, including Live Nation festival manager Brent
Silberstein, were also cleared.
"Brent did everything they could to run a safe festival,"
Silberstein's lawyer Christopher Downey said.
Lawyers for the others could not immediately be reached
Thursday.
The probe stemmed from a deadly surge of fans at Astroworld in
Houston, where thousands were injured when the over-capacity
crowd pressed forward as Scott took the stage. Ten people were
killed by compressive asphyxiation, including a 10-year-old boy.
The tragedy unleashed a wave of litigation against Scott and the
festival’s organizers, including entertainment giant Live
Nation, which merged with Ticketmaster in 2010.
The plaintiffs allege Scott, Live Nation and more than two dozen
other defendants let too many people into the venue despite
knowing the risks because they wanted the concert to appear
packed.
At least 4,900 fans were injured, according to lawyers
representing victims in lawsuits against Scott and the
organizers.
The cases have been consolidated in Texas state court in a
process known as multidistrict litigation, which streamlines
adjudication of similar lawsuits.
The family of one of the people killed settled on undisclosed
terms with Scott, Live Nation and others in October 2022.
Other lawsuits remain pending, including a case brought by the
family of the 10-year-old boy who was killed.
(Reporting by Jack Queen and Mike Spector in New York; Editing
by Amy Stevens, Lisa Shumaker and Daniel Wallis)
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