According to his lawyer, Travis Scott was never informed during his Astroworld performance that police had declared a “mass casualty event” and only found out details in the morning.
In an interview with Good Morning America, Scott’s attorney Edwin F. McPherson answered questions on who was responsible for the tragedy. “That’s what the investigations are about, that’s what we’re trying to get to the bottom of is who is responsible,” McPherson said. “Because it obviously was a systemic breakdown that we really need to get to the bottom of before we start pointing fingers at anyone.”
When asked to comment on why Travis’s Astroworld Festival set continued for an additional 40 minutes after police declared it a “mass casualty event,” McPherson said that his client hadn’t even been informed about the scope of the situation. “I think we’ve seen footage of police half an hour later just walking about and not looking like it was a mass casualty event,” McPherson said. “The important thing is that never got to Travis, that never got to Travis’s crew, he’s up there trying to perform, he does not have any ability to know what’s going on down below certainly on a mass level.”
McPherson also said that the rapper might have been confused about the ambulances that drove through the crowd. “There were a couple of other times… you say an ambulance but it looked more like a golf cart with some lights, he wasn’t sure what that was but he actually stopped the show for that, told people to get aside if they’re okay, put their hands up,” McPherson said.
When asked at what point Travis found out about the tragedy, McPherson said his client “didn’t really understand the full effect of everything until the next morning.”
McPherson added, “Understand that when he’s up on the stage 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, he can’t see anything.”
GMA noted this isn’t the first time fans have been injured at a Travis Scott concert, to which McPherson said his client has “really matured over the years” as an artist and a performer. GMA responded by saying that Travis told his fans that night to “rage” via social media. “He wanted them to be engaged, he wanted them to have a good time,” McPherson replied. “We’re coming out of COVID, this is what this festival was about.”
McPherson also spoke with TMZ on Friday, saying Travis hasn’t left the house since last weekend. “This would be devastating to happen anywhere, but the fact that it did to Houston—which he loves, and he has so many people there that he’s close to—it’s particularly devastating. He’s been at his house locked away since this happened, and not coming out at all,” McPherson said, adding that performing is “the last thing on his mind right now.”
The fallout from last week’s festival remains ongoing. During a press conference today, attorneys Ben Crump and Alex Hilliard held a news conference to announce the filing of more lawsuits from over 200 Astroworld Festival attendees. They have reportedly filed 110 lawsuits and are planning on filing 90 more.
