Editorial
Travis Scott and Astrofest:
Why it's not his fault
By Jordan Kirkland, Staff Writer
December 21, 2021
Travis Scott, and Astrofest. Ten dead, and hundreds injured. Scott couldn’t stop the concert nor see the tragedies; he wasn’t even informed of the events until hours later at an afterparty. Yet he is still facing the backlash. For what reason, I honestly couldn’t say. But I do know why he shouldn’t be held accountable, and who should be. This information is also perfectly accessible, all it requires is a quick Google search. But still, people choose to blame him.
The website Vulture says that Travis’s spokesperson gave a statement to CBS Morning that gave clearance on the idea that Travis could have stopped the concert. Apparently, this idea that people had was “ludicrous” according to Scott’s spokesperson.
“They have a 59-page operations plan, and it clearly says the only two people that have the authority to stop the concert were the executive producer and the concert producer, ” he said.
So are people just ignoring this completely?
If this was more publicly known knowledge, I feel the amount of backlash this popular artist would be receiving would be significantly lessened. Or maybe even people would have empathy for his situation. According to a post by the well known Instagram account Rap, Scott hasn’t even left his house; he’s been ripped from the cast of the Kardashian’s new reality show, as well as having a harrowing two-billion-dollar lawsuit against him and Drake on behalf of 282 families of the Astroworld victims.
He couldn’t have stopped the attacks if he wanted.
TMZ reported that “a source connected to Astroworld” told them “someone in the crowd went crazy and began injecting people with some sort of drug.” People bring “ Party favors” like these to concerts all the time, not to say it’s correct or safe. But if the concert producer hasn’t set up precautions to make sure things are done safely, there isn’t much the artists could do to help. This wasn’t the only incident revolving around, “some sort of drug”. Authorities have a report on record from a security guard saying in the situation he had been “reaching over to restrain or grab a citizen and felt a prick in his neck.” Security was even in danger. If security wasn’t safe, the fans weren’t either. Nobody was safe.
Even then Scott still could do nothing. He could barely even see or hear; he was basically blinded as well as deafened, and the person he did see he helped. If there is anybody to blame it is the executive and concert producers. The website Insider, also states that “The concert promoter behind the Astroworld Festival has faced both federal scrutiny and lawsuits over previous incidents involving injuries and safety concerns.” as well as “The company received at least 10 OSHA violations from 2016 to 2019.”
So who’s really to blame for this? The popular rap artist that cares enough for his fans to stop a show to help them. Or the company with stacked up OSHA violations, as well as managed this concert this tragedy of a festival?
I think the answer is obvious.