HOUSTON — Travis Scott sat down with radio personality Charlamagne Tha God for his first interview since the tragedy at Astroworld Festival a month ago.
During the conversation, Scott shared his perspective of how events unfolded and addressed criticism about his response to incident that claimed the lives of several people and resulted in dozens of lawsuits.
"Fans come to have a good experience," Scott said. "I have a responsibility to figure out what happened. I have a responsibility to figure out a solution. And hopefully this takes a first step into us as artists [...] having more insight on what's going on."
During the conversation, Scott said he had heard ramblings about the chaos but didn't have exact details about the deadly concert until long after the show.
He described his point of view from the stage as hectic as he performed in front of 50,000 fans. He recalled lights, various sounds and other distractions.
"It's like a sea," he said. "You've got lights, you've got sound, you've got pyro, you got your in-ears [microphone], you've got, you've got your mic, you've got the music, the band, and just all types of stuff going on."
Scott claimed he learned about the deaths during a police press conference and was stunned.
Charlamagne asked the artist about his reputation for encouraging raging at his shows, which Scott said isn't about harming people but "just letting go and having fun."
"It's something I've been working on for a while, creating these experiences and trying to show the experience is happening in a safe environment. As artists, we trust professionals to make sure things happen and people leave safely," Scott said.
Watch his full interview on Charlamagne Tha God's YouTube page here.
Tony Buzbee, who represents some of the plaintiffs in the lawsuits against Travis Scott, Live Nation and other companies connected to Astroworld, released this statement:
“I reviewed Travis Scott’s interview with great interest. Does he really want us to believe that he is a victim? Travis Scott is not a victim. Axel Acosta and the many others killed or injured are the victims.
“Travis Scott, his entourage, handlers, promoters, managers, hangers on and everyone else who enable him are the problem. Everything that Travis Scott has done or said since ten people died and hundreds of others were injured at his concert has been lawyer driven and calculated to shift blame from him to someone else. He now says he had an ear piece in, and was not told what was going on in the crowd.
“That raises the question: ‘Did he have an ear piece in his eye? Why did he purposely ignore the death and mayhem occurring literally feet from him?’
“Every time Travis Scott opens his mouth in an effort to avoid responsibility and accountability, he further exacerbates the pain of those that lost loved ones. Axel Acosta’s family doesn’t want to hear Travis Scott’s excuses; excuses do not assuage their grief and pain. Because he won’t voluntarily do so, we intend to force Travis Scott to accept responsibility for his conduct, in court, in front of a jury.”