American rapper Travis Scott revealed in an interview that he didn't find out until after his performance at the Astroworld event in Houston that fans had died.
Scott revealed what happened at the November 5 event, which left ten people dead, in a lengthy interview with TV and radio star Charlamagne Tha God, which was aired on YouTube on Thursday.
“It wasn’t really until minutes before the press conference until I figured out exactly what happened. Even after the show, you’re just kind of hearing things, but I didn’t know the exact details until minutes before the press conference,” Scott said.
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He said he halted the concert a couple of times, but he couldn’t hear fans calling for help.
“I stopped like a couple of times just to make sure everybody was OK,” said Scott. “I just really go off the fans energy as a collective, you know? Call and response. I just didn’t, I just didn’t hear that.”
Scott was the main attraction and originator of the Astroworld Festival, which drew 50,000 people. As people rushed to the stage, Scott's set became lethal. Ezra Blount, 9, was the youngest casualty. The ages of the others that died varied from 14 to 27. At the festival, 300 individuals were hurt and treated, with 25 of them being brought to hospitals.
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In Houston, more than 300 cases have been filed, all of which will be combined and processed by a single court. Scott, concert promoter Live Nation, and other event-related businesses are among those being sued.
Additionally, Houston police are conducting a criminal investigation into Scott and the event organisers. No one has been charged, and no date has been set for the conclusion of the inquiry.
“Travis Scott, his entourage, handlers, promoters, managers, hangers on, and everyone else who enable him are the problem,” said Tony Buzbee, an attorney representing the family of 21-year-old Axel Acosta Avila who died, in a statement provided to the AP on Thursday. “Everything that Travis Scott has done or said since ten people died and hundreds of others were injured at his concert has been lawyer-driven and calculated to shift blame from him to someone else.”
Scott denied that his history of urging fans to rush the stage or get past security led to the chaos at Astroworld Concert during the interview.
“People didn’t just show up there to be harmful,” said Scott. “People showed up to have a good time and something unfortunate happened.”
Scott said he had private conversations with some of the families of the victims. He also said that he understood why some families refused his request to pay for funeral costs.
“I’m always going to be here to want to help them,” Scott said of the victims’ families. “I gotta continue to show up for that. I just wanted to make sure they knew that I was there for them and continue to be there for them.”
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Scott stated that he wants to learn more about what caused the fatalities and be a leader in preventing such catastrophes from occurring at future live events.
“I have a responsibility to figure out what happened here. I have a responsibility to figure out the solution,” said Scott.
