Astroworld tragedy: Travis Scott says he was unaware of viewers deaths till after present

By Associated Press

HOUSTON: Rapper Travis Scott mentioned in an interview that he did not know that followers had died at his Astroworld pageant in Houston till after his efficiency.

In a prolonged interview with TV and radio persona, Charlamagne Tha God posted on YouTube on Thursday, Scott described from his perspective what occurred on the Nov. 5 pageant that left 10 individuals useless.

“It wasn’t actually till minutes earlier than the press convention till I discovered precisely what occurred. Even after the present, you are simply sort of listening to issues, however I did not know the precise particulars till minutes earlier than the press convention,” Scott mentioned.

He mentioned he paused the efficiency a few instances, however he could not hear followers screaming for assist.

“I stopped like a couple of times just to make sure everybody was OK,” mentioned 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 headliner and creator of the Astroworld pageant, the place 50,000 individuals had been within the viewers. Scott’s set turned lethal as followers surged towards the stage. The youngest sufferer was 9-year-old Ezra Blount. The others who died ranged in age from 14 to 27. Some 300 individuals had been injured and handled on the pageant website and 25 had been taken to hospitals.

More than 300 lawsuits have been filed thus far in Houston and will probably be consolidated and dealt with by one decide. Scott, live performance promoter Live Nation and different firms related to the occasion are amongst these being sued. Additionally, Scott and the occasion organizers are the main target of a legal investigation by Houston police. No one has been charged, and no timetable has been set for when the investigation could be accomplished.

“Travis Scott, his entourage, handlers, promoters, managers, hangers on and everyone else who enable him are the problem,” mentioned Tony Buzbee, an lawyer representing the household of 21-year-old Axel Acosta Avila who died, in a press release offered 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.”

In the interview, Scott denied that his historical past of encouraging followers to hurry the stage or push previous safety contributed to the chaos at Astroworld.

“People didn’t just show up there to be harmful,” mentioned Scott. “People showed up to have a good time and something unfortunate happened.”

Scott mentioned he had personal discussions with among the households of the victims. He additionally mentioned that he understood why some households declined his supply to pay for funeral bills.

“I’m all the time going to be right here to wish to assist 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.”

Scott mentioned that he desires to know extra about what brought on the deaths and be a frontrunner find methods to stop comparable tragedies from occurring at different dwell occasions.

“I have a responsibility to figure out what happened here. I have a responsibility to figure out the solution,” mentioned Scott.