Travis Scott is speaking out for the first time about the Astroworld tragedy.
On Thursday, Charlamagne Tha God released a nearly hour-long interview with the rapper on his YouTube channel.
Scott, 30, was confronted about whether he knew there were injuries – and ultimately deaths – during his Nov. 5 festival that left 10 people dead and about 300 others injured. Twenty-five people were taken to hospitals. More than 300 lawsuits have been filed in Houston regarding the deadly crowd surge.
“I didn’t know the exact details until minutes before the press conference [after my set],” the rapper alleged. “And even at that moment, you’re like, ‘Wait, what?'”
TRAVIS SCOTT’S OFFER TO PAY FOR 9-YEAR-OLD ASTROWORLD VICTIM’S FUNERAL DENIED BY FAMILY
Travis Scott sat down with radio personality Charlamagne Tha God about his deadly Astroworld concert.
(Photo by Erika Goldring/WireImage via Getty Images)
“People pass out, things happen at concerts, but something like that…'” Scott shared.
Scott went on to deny hearing any distress from the crowd that would have prompted him to stop the show sooner.
“It’s so crazy because I’m that artist too — anytime you can hear something like that, you want to stop the show,” Scott explained. “You want to make sure fans get the proper attention they need. Anytime I could see anything like that, I did. I stopped it a couple of times to just make sure everybody was OK. And I really just go off the fans’ energy as a collective — call and response. I just didn’t hear that.”
Scott also shared that his point of view on stage, as well as the loud music, blinding lights, pyro and other elements made it difficult for him to fully understand what was really going on in the crowd.
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Charlamagne tha God confronted Travis Scott about what happened at the deadly Houston concert.
(Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Comedy Centra)
“You can only help what you can see and whatever you’re told, whenever they tell you to stop, you stop,” said Scott.
The host, 43, then pressed Scott about the “raging” culture his shows are known for and whether that could have been a contributing factor to the massive crowd surge.
“That’s something I’ve been working on for a while, is creating these experiences and trying to show these experiences are happening in a safe environment,” said Scott. “Us as artists, we trust professionals for when things happen that people can leave safely. And this night was just like a regular show, it felt like to me, as far as the energy. It didn’t feel like, you know… people didn’t show up there just to be harmful. People just showed up to have a good time and then something unfortunate happened and I think we really just got to figure out what that was.”
“‘Raging’…there’s not a textbook definition,” Scott pointed out. “But in concerts, we’ve grown it to be just the experience of fun. It’s not about just… harm. It’s not about that. It’s about letting go and having fun, help others and love each other.”
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Travis Scott performs during the Astroworld Festival at NRG Park on November 05, 2021, in Houston, Texas.
(Photo by Erika Goldring/WireImage via Getty Images)
Those who have been sued include Scott, who created the festival and was the headliner, as well as concert promoter Live Nation and other companies connected to the event.
The 10 people who died were among 50,000 who had attended the festival and were in the audience when Scott’s concert turned deadly as fans surged toward the stage during his set.
The youngest victim was a 9-year-old. The others who died ranged in age from 14 to 27.
Attorney Brent Coon, who is representing about 2,000 concertgoers and is asking for $10 billion in damages, made his consolidation request last month. He said that having all the cases before one judge will create efficiency, eliminate redundancy and spread costs in the cases to everyone involved in the litigation.
TRAVIS SCOTT HIT WITH LAWSUIT BY FAMILY OF 14-YEAR-OLD KILLED AT ASTROWORLD
Ten people died at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival and more than 300 people were injured.
(Travis Scott)
“You don’t want to have all the same issues argued and all the same witnesses deposed over and over again in every courtroom,” Coon said.
But the consolidation that was granted might conflict with a similar request made by lawyers for ASM Global Parent, Inc. and its subsidiaries, which manage events at NRG Park, where the Astroworld festival was held.
Lawyers for ASM Global have also asked in a motion filed with the Texas Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, which is overseen by the Texas Supreme Court, to consolidate the lawsuits but assign them to a different Harris County judge, Lauren Reeder.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
