Travis Scott is finally speaking out at length about the awful Astroworld Festival Tragedy that occurred just over a month ago in Houston.
The rapper, a native of that city who had been headlining his own festival when the crowd rush occurred, sat down with Charlamagne Tha God and spoke for nearly an hour about the awful situation. The interview doesn’t exactly mark Travis’ first public comments about the incident, as he took to social media the very next day following the concert, but it’s still interesting to hear how Kylie Jenner‘s baby daddy is addressing the backlash following 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
Related: Travis Scott Legally Responds To Astroworld Lawsuits With A Surprising Legal Filing
In his long discussion with Charlamagne, posted to the media personality’s personal YouTube channel, Scott opened up about what he claims he knew regarding the crowd surge, injuries, and deaths — and when he knew it. Explaining that things were in flux the entire night even after injuries were reported, he shared he was ignorant of how bad things had gotten until after the end of his set, saying:
“I didn’t know the exact details until minutes before the press conference [after my set]. And even at that moment you’re like, ‘wait, what?’ People pass out, things happen at concerts, but something like that…”
The rapper wasn’t done there, further claiming that he did not hear any warnings or distress from those in the crowd who were trying to get him to stop the show and assess the situation. The performer, real name Jacques Bermon Webster, went on to add:
“It’s so crazy because 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 it a couple 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.”
Hmmm… knowing Scott’s verifiable history, is any of that really true? Besides, it’s eyebrow-raising to hear him claim he first learned of issues at the press conference after his set — only to go and party with Drake at a local Dave & Buster’s in the hours after that. Partying after claiming you already learned that people were severely injured (and worse) at the concert is… a choice. Ugh.
He stuck by his initial claim, though, saying that the music, lights, and pyrotechnic elements from the stage prevented him from understanding what was going on in the crowd. Stormi Webster‘s father added:
“You can only help what you can see and whatever you’re told, whenever they tell you to stop, you stop.”
One of the most interesting parts of the interview is when Charlamagne pressed the performer on the controversial “raging” culture that has long been known to happen at his shows. Scott pushed back on any insinuation that the raging culture was responsible for the tragedy, explaining:
“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. 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.”
And Travis continued, adding more:
“‘Raging,’ there’s not a textbook definition. 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.”
Hmm… That’s a far cry from what the 30-year-old has said about raging in the past.
You can see the whole interview here:
Wow.
Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Sound off down (below) with what you think about Travis’ sit-down…
[Image via Charlamagne Tha God/YouTube]
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