In his first interview since the fatal Astroworld tragedy last month, Travis Scott has broken his silence about the events that claimed the lives of 10 of his fans, insisting that he was unaware that there was a deadly surge occurring beneath his feet.
“Even after the show, you know, you’re just kind of hearing things, which I didn’t know the exact details until, you know, minutes before the press conference,” Scott told Charlamagne Tha God in an interview that was posted on the radio host’s YouTube channel on Thursday morning.
“And even at that moment you’re kind of just like, ‘Wait, what?’ You know, you just went through something.”
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Scott’s sit-down with Charlamagne comes as the rapper’s career seems to be in freefall, with the 30-year-old facing more than 300 lawsuits after hundreds of people were injured during his Astroworld festival in Houston on Nov. 5.
More than 50,000 people attended the sold-out concert, and fans were trampled under the weight of the crowd as it surged towards the stage to get closer to Scott. Among those who died was a 9-year-old boy who attended the concert with his father.
The musician has attempted to do damage control, partnering with online counseling service BetterHelp to offer one free month of therapy for those traumatized by the events, as well as offering to cover funeral costs for victims. (Half of the victims’ families have refused his offer.)
Scott seemed stoic during the 50-minute conversation, sitting back in his chair, slightly swiveling in it as he answered Charlamagne’s questions. When pressed on why he was choosing to speak out now, and what he hoped to gain from the conversation, Scott responded, “I personally don’t have an intention, I just feel like something happened and I needed a way to communicate.”
“It’s been a lot of thoughts, a lot of feelings, a lot of grieving,” he added. “Just trying to wrap my head around it. I really just want to be there. Wish you could just hold everyone, talk to them, have conversations… It hurts.”
Harrowing videos from the night show a chaotic scene, with muffled screams coming from people on the ground. Kylie Jenner, with whom Scott shares a child, even posted video from the concert showing an ambulance driving into the middle of a sea of people, as Scott continued his performance.
Fans had climbed onto camera operating platforms in a desperate attempt to alert concert organizers to the situation and get medical attention for those injured. At one point, even Scott briefly paused during his set to check on a fan.
But Scott is adamant he was unaware of the true extent of what was happening, explaining that his visibility from the stage was very limited, and it was hard to discern screams for help from cries of excitement.
“You can only help what you can see and whatever you’re told, whenever they tell you to stop, you stop,” he said. “It’s so crazy ’cause I’m that artist, too. Anytime you can hear something like that, you want to stop the show, you want to make sure fans get the proper attention they need. Anytime I could see anything like that, I did.”
“I stopped a couple times to just make sure everybody was OK,” he added. “And I really just go off the fans’ energy as a collective, you know, call and response. I just didn’t hear that. I got music, I got my in-ears, but I just didn’t hear that.”
Scott also defended himself against accusations that he often encourages his frenzied fans to mosh and rush the stage, saying the idea of “raging” at his shows is more about “having fun.”
“There’s not a textbook definition,” Scott explained. “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.”
“As artists, you 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. People didn’t show up there just to be harmful. People just showed up to have a good time and something unfortunate happened and we just need to figure out what that was.”
