Travis Is Being Slammed For Making ‘Excuses’ After ‘Purposely’ Ignoring Astroworld Victims
Across social media, Travis Scott’s interview response has been less than positive—and now, an attorney for one of the Astroworld tragedy victims is speaking out against the rapper.
The “Sicko Mode” star sat for his first interview about the Astroworld tragedy on December 9, 2021, with The Breakfast Club’s Charlamagne Tha God, in which the rapper denied any responsibility for the 10 deaths and dozens of others injured at his festival in November 2021. Among the victims was 21-year-old Axel Acosta, whose family is currently suing Scott and Astroworld concert organizers for Acosta’s death. Acosta’s family attorney, Tony Buzbee, watched Scott’s interview and believes that the rapper is trying to “shift blame” from himself despite his role at the Astroworld show.
“Axel Acosta and the many others killed or injured are the victims. Travis Scott, his entourage, handlers, promoters, managers, hangers on and everyone else who enable him are the problem,” Buzbee told TMZ on December 9. “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.”
Buzbee, who has since filed a $750 million suit against Scott, doesn’t believe that the rapper really had no idea of what was going on in the crowd on the night of the Astroworld tragedy. “He now says he had an earpiece in, and was not told what was going on in the crowd,” Buzbee said. “That raises the question: Did he have an earpiece in his eye? Why did he purposely ignore the death and mayhem occurring literally feet from him?” The attorney went on to slam Scott’s interview, saying that the rapper “further exacerbates the pain of those that lost loved ones. Axel Acosta’s family doesn’t want to hear Travis Scott’s excuses; excuses do not assuage their grief and pain.”
In his interview with Charlamagne, Scott insisted that he did not know about the mayhem that was taking place in the crowd which caused the death of 10 concertgoers and injuries to many others. “I didn’t know the exact details until [after my set], minutes before the press conference that I figured out exactly what happened,” Scott said. told “And even at that moment, you’re like….what?”
The rapper claimed that he would have stopped the show if he realized what was going on in the crowd. “Anytime you hear something like that, you want to stop the show,” he said “You want to make sure fans get the proper attention they need. Anytime I could see anything like that, I did [stop]. I stopped it a couple of times to just make sure everybody was okay. I just really go off the fans’ energy as a collective — call and response. I just didn’t hear that [this time].” While Scott remains under scrutiny, many details about the Astroworld tragedy continue to be investigated to this day. Read on below for what we know about the events of that night.
What happened at the Travis Scott concert?
According to Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña, tragedy struck at Scott’s Astroworld Festival on November 5, 2021, at around 9 p.m., when around 50,000 concertgoers began surging toward the stage at NRG Park. “The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage, and that caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries,” Peña said in a press release on November 6, 2021. “People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic.” Police and firefighters officially went on to declare the concert a “mass casualty” event by 9:38 p.m., just 32 minutes after Scott’s set began.
As the crowd continued to surge, festival organizers reportedly agreed to cut the concert short, according to the Houston Chronicle. However, the show went on as originally planned, with Scott completing his setlist and finishing on schedule at 10:15 p.m. By the end of the night, eight people—including two high school students—ended up dead, while over 300 others sustained injuries. In weeks following the tragedy, two more victims passed away due to their injuries.
Scott, for his part, claimed at the time to be completely unaware of the deaths that took place in the crowd. He took to Twitter following the incident to express his condolences to the affected families, writing, “I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival. Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life.” He continued, “I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need. Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support. Love You All.”
