Entertainment
Travis Scott ‘absolutely’ should have stopped his set when he saw fans were hurt, Houston fire chief says
Travis Scott is under fire for his decision to keep performing during his set at Astroworld festival (Picture: Getty)
Houston’s fire chief has claimed the rapper Travis Scott ‘absolutely’ should have paused his Astroworld festival set on Friday in order to help avoid further injuries in the crowd.
Eight people died, including a 14-year-old child, while many others were taken to hospital for treatment after crowds surged forward during the hitmaker’s performance in Houston, Texas.
Speaking to NBC’s Today Show on Tuesday, Fire Chief Samuel Peña stated: ‘The artist has command of that crowd.
‘In my opinion – and this is my opinion because everything is going to be fleshed out throughout this investigation – the artist, if he notices something that’s going on, he can certainly pause that performance, turn on the lights, and say, “Hey, we’re not gonna continue until this thing is resolved.”‘
Peña clarified that he was not blaming Scott for starting the crowd surge as he added: ‘I’m not prepared to say that. I’m not prepared to say that he was fully aware of what was going on.’
Around 300 attendees were injured on the first night of the third Astroworld Festival, an annual event founded by Scott and named after his highly acclaimed 2018 album.
About 50,000 people were in attendance and it has since been revealed that Houston police chief Troy Finner visited the TKN rapper in his trailer to ‘voice concerns’ about the crowd that had amassed at NRG Park.
In a lengthy statement, Finner explained: ‘I met with Travis Scott and his head of security for a few moments last Friday prior to the main event.
‘I expressed my concerns regarding public safety and that in my 31 years of law enforcement experience I have never seen a time with more challenges facing citizens of all ages, to include a global pandemic and social tension throughout the nation.’
At least eight people died, with around 300 injured after the crowd surged forward during the rapper’s set (Picture: Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
He continued: ‘I asked Travis Scott and his team to work with HPD for all events over the weekend and to be mindful of his team’s social media messaging on any unscheduled events. The meeting was brief and respectful, and a chance for me to share my public safety as Chief of Police.
The statement comes after footage and social media posts trawled by the Houston Chronicle indicated people began collapsing by 9.38pm, nearly 40 minutes after Scott came onstage.
Scott’s promoter quickly agreed to stop the show, yet the 30-year-old rapper, real name Jacques Berman Webster II, appeared to keep playing till the end of his 75-minute set, at 10.15pm, the newspaper reported.
Travis stopped his set on several occasions to point out fans in need of help but performed for 40 minutes after the surge led to a deadly crowd crush (Picture: Erika Goldring/WireImage)
According to the Washington Post, people in a tightly packed section of crowd could be heard shouting ‘help … please help’ in a clip filmed at 9.12pm – over an hour before the performance finished.
Peña, later told a press conference that the crowd had begun to ‘compress towards the front of the stage’, causing some injuries, by 9.15pm.
Staff allegedly ignored fans who begged them to halt the performance, including some who climbed onto raised platforms to point out the injured to camera operators as early as 9.30pm.
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The Highest in the Room rapper did stop the music several times during his set after spotting fans who had ‘passed out’ or were in distress and asking security to help them out.
It’s since been reported Scott and guest performer Drake are being sued for $1,000,000 (£741,000) over the ‘preventable’ stampede. Neither Scott nor Drake have commented on the lawsuits.
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The rapper, who is expecting his second child with Kylie Jenner, shared a statement of his sorrow about the tragedy on Saturday.
He has since offered to pay for the funerals of those who died and will issue full refunds to all who attended the festival.
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