Update: 9:45 a.m. ET (Nov. 15, 2021) – According to ABC13 Houston, a 10th victim has reportedly died as a result of injuries sustained during the Astroworld Festival in Houston on Nov. 5. Ezra Blount, a 9-year-old Texas resident who attended the festival with his father passed away at Texas Children’s Hospital on Sunday (Nov. 14).
According to the local news outlet, Blount had been in a medically induced coma with damage to his internal organs including his lungs, kidney, and heart. He was also suffering from brain swelling due to cardiac arrest. Reporter Stefania Okolie tweeted the heartbreaking news on Sunday night.
The fallout following the tragic events that occurred at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival last Friday (Oct. 5) has been immense with multiple reported fatalities and hundreds more injured due to a “mass-casualty” crowd rush.
Scott, who was in the middle of his headlining performance at the time of the incident, has come under fire as the death toll of concert attendees continues to rise, losing endorsements and being hit with more than 100 lawsuits in less than a week’s time.
Early Thursday (Nov. 11), Bharti Shahana, a 22-year-old student at Texas A&M University, became the ninth person to succumb to injuries sustained at Astroworld. Shahana, who attended the festival with her sister and cousin, was declared brain-dead upon her hospitalization and put on a ventilator after suffering multiple heart attacks.
Other concert attendees remain in critical condition, including 9-year-old Ezra Blount, who was pronounced brain-dead after being hospitalized at Texas Children’s Hospital. Blount, who was attending the concert with his father, fell from his father’s shoulders during the crowd rush and was trampled, resulting in injuries to his brain, kidney, and lung.
On Friday morning (Nov. 12), attorneys Ben Crump and Alex Hilliard held a news conference in front of Houston’s Harris County Civil Courthouse announcing the filing of lawsuits from over 200 attendees of the Astroworld Festival, which will join at least 46 other lawsuits filed in the state of Texas seeking damages related to the debacle.
HAPPENING NOW: More #Astroworld fallout. Attorney Ben Crump, Alex Hilliard and John Duffy of Hilliard Martinez Gonzales says they are now representing over 200 clients and are announcing 90 more lawsuits. A few victims are joining the attorneys outside the courthouse. pic.twitter.com/UHax71WO9k
— Brhe Berry ABC13 (@BrheABC13) November 12, 2021
Known for his popular brand and product collaborations with some of the biggest corporations in the world, Scott has begun to see the termination of many of those partnerships with brands like Fortnite and others choosing to cut ties with the “Highest in the Room” rapper.
Similarly, the Houston Rockets, his hometown NBA team, have decided to postpone their planned “Travis Scott Day” indefinitely, instead using the night to honor victims with a moment of silence.
In fact, even the Kardashian-Jenner family has decided to distance themselves from the star, reportedly removing a storyline involving him from their upcoming new Hulu series. According to RadarOnline, “Cameras have been rolling for months…however after the disaster at the concert, where Kylie and Kendall were both backstage, footage of Travis is being edited out of the show.”
The 30-year-old, who has shown remorse and offered to cover the funeral expenses of all of the Astroworld Festival victims, as well as partner with local organizations to offer free therapy sessions to all those affected by their experience at the festival, is certainly in the midst of the lowest point of his career.
Only time will tell if his efforts to atone for the horrific events that occurred on his festival’s watch will be enough to help him bounce back and regain the popularity from fans that he once enjoyed.