Travis Scott’s lawyer has said the rapper “did not know what was going on” during his set at Astroworld festival.
Nine people died and hundreds more were injured during a “mass casualty” event that happened while Scott was onstage at the event last weekend.
In the days since, Houston Police chief Troy Finner has said he “expressed concerns” to Scott regarding safety at the event in the days leading up to Astroworld while Houston Fire chief Samuel Pena has since claimed that Scott should have stopped the show earlier but also said: “I’m not prepared to say he was fully aware of what was going on.”
Appearing on Good Morning America today (November 12) Scott’s lawyer Edwin McPherson has said that Scott was never told that the “mass casualty” crowd crush had occurred while he was onstage. The message “never got to Travis. It never got to Travis’ crew. He’s up there trying to perform, he does not have any ability to know what’s going on below, especially on a mass level.”
“Travis didn’t really understand the full effect of everything until the next morning.” — Travis Scott’s attorney Edwin F. McPherson on deadly Astroworld festival. https://t.co/pP82N0MhqZ pic.twitter.com/abs6NABs3c
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 12, 2021
“Travis didn’t really understand the full effect of everything until the next morning, truly. He did not know what was going on,” he added. “Understand that when he’s up onstage and he has flash pods going off around him, and he has an ear-monitor that has music blasting through it and his own voice, he can’t hear anything and he can’t see anything”
Since the Astroworld tragedy, Scott has asked families of those impacted to get in touch via email. The statement, shared by his team, said: “He is distraught by the situation and desperately wishes to share his condolences and provide aid to them as soon as possible, but wants to remain respectful of each family’s wishes on how they’d best like to be connected.”
It follows on from the news that Scott would pay for the funeral costs of victims of the Astroworld incident, and has partnered with counselling app BetterHelp to provide online therapy for those in need.
In the wake of the tragedy, lawsuits have continued to grow against Scott, festival promoters Live Nation, and more, while experts have claimed that Astroworld organisers “weren’t prepared” for the huge crowd.