A spokesperson for Travis Scott is denying that he was responsible for deaths and injuries that occurred during his Nov. 5 performance at the Astroworld festival.
During an appearance on CBS News on Friday, Scottās spokesperson Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said, āI mean this notion that Travis had the ability to stop the concert is ludicrous. They had a 59-page operations plan. ā
āAnd it clearly said the only two people that have the authority to stop the concern were the executive producer and the concert producer. He was not responsible for this, but he wants to be responsible for the solution.ā
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At least nine people died, and dozens were injured after chaos broke out at the Nov. 5 AstroWorld music festival during Scottās performance.
According to The Washington Post, āSome attendees have said they saw people crushed or trampled as the crowd estimated at 50,000 moved closer to the stage in the open air venue to see headliner Scott.ā
Additionally, the Post reports that the first āearly sign of the tragedy unfoldingā at the festival came just 17 minutes into Scottās performance. A Houston firefighter reportedly recorded in a log used to track radio communications in the venue that there was a report of an āindividual with crush injury/breathing difficultyā at 9:18 p.m.
āReports of unconscious and trampled people ā some of them in cardiac arrest ā came in quick succession in the minutes that followed,ā the Post added.
Twelve minutes later the log notes that there were āreports multiple people trampled, passed out at front of stage.ā
The performance continued for another 40 minutes, even though fire officials had labeled it a mass casualty event.
During an appearance on ABCās āGood Morning Americaā Friday, Edwin F. McPherson, Scottās lawyer, argued that there āobviously was a systemic breakdown that we need to get to the bottom of before we start pointing fingers at anyone.ā
He also said neither Scott nor members of his team received word that the festival had been labeled a mass casualty event, and added, āWeāve seen footage of police half an hour later just walking about and not looking like it was a mass casualty event.ā
McPherson continued, āBut clearly the important thing is that never got to Travis, that never got to Travisā crew. Heās up there trying to perform; he does not have any ability to know whatās going on down below, certainly on a mass level.ā
āTravis didnāt really understand the full effect of everything until the next morning. Truly he did not know what was going on,ā he added. āUnderstand that when heās up on the stage, and he has flashpots going off around him, and he has an ear monitor that has music blasting through it and his own voice, he canāt hear anything, he canāt see anything.ā
Scott and the organizers of the event are facing lawsuits accusing them of gross negligence.
