Two security guards who worked Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston are suing two weeks after a brutal crowd rush at the concert killed 10 people and injured hundreds of others, including the guards.
Samuel and Jackson Bush, an uncle and nephew who worked the fest on Nov. 5th, told reporters during a press conference Monday that they both sustained injuries trying to help concertgoers during the crowd surge. Samuel, who says he was trampled multiple times, broke his hand and hurt his back, while Jackson hurt his shoulder.
The two have named 28 people and corporations in their suit, including Scott and his label Cactus Jack Records, Astroworld promoters Live Nation and ScoreMore, venue NRG Park, and security companies Contemporary Services Corp and AJ Melino & Associates, the latter of which hired the Bushes to work the concert. Samuel and Jackson Bush claim AJ Melino & Associates took very few measures to prepare its contracted employees for the chaos that ensued.
The suit alleges that the company didn’t issue background checks to ensure guards were qualified for the task, and the company didn’t supply any training to do their jobs. They reportedly weren’t given walkie-talkies and couldn’t communicate with their superiors as the crowd surge began. Jackson Bush says they were given no instruction before starting other than to show up to the concert site dressed in black.
“For the most part, they told us where to stand, not to let people run in, and to be safe and not to put our hands on anybody,” Jackson Bush said during a press conference. “There was no training.”
The two also say they’re still owed money from the security company for their work on the festival. AJ Melino & Associates didn’t immediately reply to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment. “You’d think it’d take more than signing your name,” the Bushes’ lawyer Larry Taylor said. “It was as simple as you and I walking on the other side of this gate.”
The lawsuit is one of hundreds filed by Astroworld attendees who say the event left them with injuries and psychological trauma. Live Nation and Scott have been named in multiple suits totaling billions of dollars in potential damages.
The Bushes aren’t the first security guards who’ve said publicly they felt security companies didn’t prepare them enough for how to handle the event. Darius Williams, a security worker contracted by Contemporary Services Corporation, told Rolling Stone he felt the company rushed to get workers without ensuring they were qualified and prepared for the event.
He left his post before Travis Scott performed, fearing for his own safety. “If you look at my resume, I only have hospitality and retail experience,” Williams said. “It felt like they just needed bodies, like they were hiring anyone who passed a background test.”
Metallica bassist Jason Newsted says he is now “free and clear” after facing throat cancer.
The 63 year old musician, who played with the Enter Sandman legends from 1986 through 2001, has shared details of his diagnosis publicly for the first time. He explained that doctors discovered it early, and on May 8, 2025 he “underwent a procedure” to treat the condition.
Speaking on the Let There Be Talk podcast, he said: “They took a bunch of s*** outta here and then they went in with lasers this way and took a bunch of s*** out.
“So the cavern inside my head is different than it was, but we got it early. And I got my ‘free and clear’ about three weeks ago. So I beat it.”
Jason contributed to several of Metallica’s most iconic releases, including 1988’s ...And Justice For All, their self titled 1991 album, 1996’s Load, the 1997 follow up Reload, and 1998’s Garage Inc.
After going through his cancer experience, the bassist made a point to slow down and actually give himself time to recover instead of constantly pushing forward.
He explained: “I promised myself I was going to rest, and that was the first time I’ve done that in my life.
"I’m usually just on or off. And so I promised myself I was gonna take the gravity off and lay down for the right amount of hours."
The health scare also led Jason to give up smoking weed and drinking alcohol, something he admits he likely would not have done otherwise.
He added: “The great spirit got my attention and said, ‘That’s not good right now, man.’ And so it pulled me off it.
"And so now I’m more clear-headed than I’ve been in my entire adult life. And so there’s blessings within everything. The lemonade I’m making this summer, bro — mm. Sweet. Ooh.”
Jason has previously said that his unexpected departure ultimately helped Metallica continue moving forward, while James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich later admitted they struggled to process his decision at the time.
Lars told Apple Music in 2021: “Jason is the only member of Metallica who has ever left willingly. And that in itself is a statistic.
"And the resentment from James and I was just so… 'You can’t do that. You can only leave if we want you to leave'.
"And then we weren’t equipped at the time to do a deep dive into why he was leaving. So of course, now you can see 20 years later, it makes complete sense.”
