Photo: Ovidiu Hrubaru / Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock
He's sharing his side of the story.
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on Dec 09, 2021
Since the Astroworld tragedy that left 10 people dead at his festival, Travis Scott has been hiding from the public eye all while being been bombarded with hundreds of lawsuits that could cost him billions of dollars if he is found guilty.
Since then, the famous rapper has tried to make amends in the form of partnerships with a controversial online therapeutic service, offered refunds that waive the opportunity to file lawsuits, and even tried to give financial aid and compensation to those who lost their loved ones.
Now, in an interview almost a month after the tragedy occurred, the 30-year-old speaks out about his side and what really happened at the concert that left 10 dead and over 300 injured.
Travis Scott shares his side of what happened at Astroworld with Charlamagne tha God.
Fans and critics have been hanging on every word from Scott about the tragedy in order to immediately criticize him for his lack of a response in stopping the show or helping fans when they pleaded with him for help during the show.
Videos of fans going up to the camera stand, of Scott standing on a tall tower watching and humming as someone’s unconscious body was escorted away from the crowd, of concertgoers rushing through gates and security and risking their lives being trampled away just to watch his show.
Many find it hard to believe that Scott had no idea what was happening in that crowd and shared videos of countless other artists stopping shows to ensure fan safety.
However, according to Scott, he didn’t know about any of this on that night and really only found out about the gravity of the situation minutes before the press conference for the tragedy.
“It wasn’t really until minutes until the press conference until I figured out exactly what happened, you know,” he told Charlamagne. “Even after the show, you’re just kind of, hearing things. I didn’t know the exact details until minutes before the press conference.”
He talked about how he never heard any of the pleas for help because “everything just sounds the same and at the end of the day you just hear music.”
He explained that if he had heard any of the calls for help or requests to stop the show, he would have, and when he did notice something was happening he would stop the show.
Travis Scott is denying legal responsibility for the Astroworld tragedy.
Many people on social media reasoned that even if that were the case and he really didn’t know or hear anything, Scott still bears responsibility for his history of telling fans to “rage” and go against the authorities which include security.
Things like rushing the gates, sneaking into concerts, and disrespecting security and even each other all fall into the hands of Scott’s previous influences — and so Charlamagne asked if he believed that played a part in what happened that night.
“Nah, it’s something I’ve been working on for a while of just creating these experiences … as artists, we trust professionals to make sure that if things happen, people leave safely,” he said. “In concerts, we’ve grown [raging] to be an experience of having fun, not harm. It’s about letting go and having fun.”
He said it never felt like people showed up with the intention of causing harm.
Charlamagne then addressed whether or not Scott felt like he held any responsibility for what happened there that night, and his response tip-toed the line of a confession.
"I have a responsibility to figure out what happened here. I have a responsibility to figure out the solution," he said. "Hopefully this takes a first step for us as artists, having more insight about what’s going on."
With over 300 lawsuits and over $10 billion on the table for Scott to pay up, this is a textbook middle ground answer where he can shoulder part of the blame without being held legally liable for his action — or inaction — that night.
Scott’s legal team recently filed for dismissals of all the lawsuits filed against him in a move that they claimed was a standard response to lawsuits in denying legal liability.
The rapper expressed his wishes to move forward, promising to be "a number one voice" for concert safety, and expressing that he’ll always be there for his fans.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.