Buzbee represents the Axel Acosta family.
Axel’s aunt Cynthia said it was his first time at an event like this. The 21-year-old student from Western Washington University traveled to Houston on his own for the concert.
SEE RELATED STORY: Astroworld Festival Victim Axel Acosta Dies Amid Increased Houston Concert Crowds
At a press conference a month ago, Buzbee said Axel died from the stampede. Crowd Rush occurs when you have a high density crowd moving in one direction in a confined space.
Buzbee said the Acosta family were disgusted by Scott’s comments and his interview with radio and TV personality Charlamagne Tha God.
SEE RELATED: Body of Astroworld Victim Axel Acosta ‘Stomped on Like Trash’, Says Lawyer Tony Buzbee
“We are taught when we make a mistake, the best thing to do is admit it and take responsibility. Travis Scott didn’t do that. Made no effort to. In fact, in his 50s. ‘years minutes, he didn’t even say, “I’m sorry,” “Buzbee said. “Every time he tries to lay the blame, every time he finds an excuse, he only adds to the pain of families who have lost loved ones.”
Buzbee said his recent comments made matters worse for grieving families.
“You have to accept responsibility,” Buzbee said. “Like I said, it won’t take away the pain, but at least it won’t make it worse. If he can’t do that, he should just shut up.”
The lawyer representing the families of two other festival victims, Franco Patino and Jacob Jurinek, issued the following statement:
“The Patino and Jurinek families are deeply offended by Travis Scott’s latest prepackaged PR stunt. The families are smart and they saw him for what it was. In his interview, Travis Scott spoke about his Astroworld fans as his ‘family’ “and that he’s here with their families now. Families needed him to be “there” during the show when Travis Scott could and should have saved their children’s lives. How dare he say he’s with the families. Nothing could be further from the truth. The only time Travis Scott will be with them is in court.
For the first time since the festival tragedy, Scott, from Houston, spoke about the night that resulted in the deaths of 10 of his fans.
WATCH: “Concert from Hell”: Astroworld Fest attendees describe chaos
Scott’s interview was posted Thursday morning on Charlamagne Tha God’s YouTube channel, where the Missouri City-born artist sat down to discuss what happened.
Scott, who was the headliner of the festival and the founder of the event, is at the center of hundreds of lawsuits, including one for $ 2 billion on behalf of more than 200 victims.
SEE MORE: Lawyer Brings $ 2 Billion Lawsuit Against Travis Scott and Others on Behalf of Astroworld Victims
The 30-year-old rapper faces allegations that he knew fans were injured and in pain during his show, but continued to perform, although some fans tried unsuccessfully to get the attention of cameramen in the show. the goal of arresting the rapper.
Scott maintained he was not aware of the deaths or injuries at the time.
He was asked within minutes of starting the nearly hour-long interview when he knew things had gone horribly wrong.
“It wasn’t until a few minutes after the press conference started that I found out exactly what had happened. Even after the show you only hear things,” Scott began. “But, I didn’t know the exact details until a few minutes before the press conference.”
“And even now you’re like, ‘Wait. What?'” Scott continued. “You just went through something, and it’s like ‘What?'”
“So you didn’t know that people had died? Asked Charlamagne.
“No. Until a few minutes before,” Scott said. “The thing is, people pass out. Things happen at concerts. But something like that. It’s just like …”
When asked, Scott also said he had never heard any fans in the crowd screaming for help to get his attention.
“It’s so crazy because I’m that artist too, you know, every time you hear something like that you want to stop the show. You want to make sure the fans get the attention they need,” Scott explained. “Anytime I could see something like that, I would. I stopped it a few times just to make sure everyone was okay. I just really just lost the energy of the fans as a collective. Call and response. I just haven’t heard that. I have music. I have it in my ears. I just haven’t heard that. “
A detailed timeline shows that minutes after Scott took the stage at 9:02 p.m. in front of a crowd of 50,000 spectators, spectators were already reporting that the influx of crowds had started and that they were having difficulty getting up.
At 9:25 p.m. Scott stopped the show to speak to a fan who needed help. It would be one of three times he would stop his performance.
Scott finished the show around 10:12 p.m. He was seen on Apple Music’s livestream of the concert telling fans to come home to safety.
During the interview with Charlamagne, Scott went deeper into his explanation of why he claimed it was difficult to see what was going on while he was on stage.
“It’s hard to tell the excitement from the danger, so to speak?” Asked Charlamagne.
“Everything sounds the same. At the end of the day, you just hear music,” Scott said. “You can only help what you can see and whatever is told to you. Every time someone tells you to stop, you just stop.”
The interview also touched on the “culture of rage” surrounding Scott’s performances.
Joey Guerra, a Houston Chronicle music critic who was in attendance at the concert, said the so-called rage culture has been Scott’s unique niche since the start of his performance career. He said that culture thrives on chaotic energy.
“I think for a lot of these fans when we talk about ‘rage culture’ it’s a positive thing for them,” Guerra said. “When you watch, in particular, this Netflix documentary that he made, he uses it as a selling point, and we see these fans talking about being in the crowd, and you know, we see a guy on crutches. , hurt people and talk about the experience of being on her show. But it all counts as something positive. I think that’s kind of the danger here. There is a kind of delicate balance that goes on. happens, and if it tips the wrong way, unfortunately we see what happens. “
In 2017, Scott was arrested and charged with inciting riot, disorderly conduct and endangering a minor after a performance in Arkansas.
Police alleged that he encouraged people to rush onto the stage and bypass security protocols.
Charlamagne brought up the rage culture during the interview, but Scott didn’t want to blame it for how the series went.
“It’s something I’ve been working on for a while, just creating these experiences and trying to show that these experiences take place in a safe environment,” Scott said. “As artists, we trust the professionals to make sure things go and people leave safely. And that night was a regular show, it seemed to me in terms of energy. people didn’t show up there to be harmful. They showed up to have a good time, and something unfortunate happened, and I think we have to really figure out what it was. “
Scott defined rage as an experience of pleasure, reiterating that it was not meant to be a matter of evil.
“It’s about letting go and having fun. Helping others is not just about harming,” he said. “The show isn’t rambunctious for an hour. It’s not what it is. I can tell the energy is high.”
Scott’s whereabouts in the moments and days after the show were also called into question.
According to sources, Scott went to a private party at Dave & Buster’s, which was part of a planned event with his friend and fellow artist Drake. While Scott was apparently unaware of the disaster, sources said Scott left the party early Saturday morning, November 6, after learning of the death.
While he initially kept a low profile afterwards, with the exception of a video message to fans, Scott was spotted around Thanksgiving with actor Mark Wahlberg and Michael Jordan.
“It was just Thanksgiving. They were just good people to have in a community,” Scott told Charlamagne. “It was more of a personal moment. I think a fan came over and requested a photo.”
“At the end of the day, these fans are your family, so you just feel like you’ve lost something,” Scott said.
Scott was also asked how much responsibility he felt for what happened on his show.
“I have a responsibility to find out what happened here. I have a responsibility to find the solution,” he began. “Hopefully this will give us, as artists, a better sense of what’s going on. Professionals need to kind of surround and understand more information, whether it’s technology, of a response, to understand that. “
Charlamagne followed up on his initial question, this time asking Scott if the event’s organizers, Live Nation, should take responsibility and to what extent.
“They are doing their job to put these things in place. When we look at what specifically happened here, I feel like they can even help understand what happened in a way, but to At the end of the day, collectively I think everyone needs to just find the solution to the outcome, ”Scott said.
Live Nation has also been cited in the lawsuits.
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