Kyle McCoy

Features Editor

kzm266@psu.edu

Tragedy struck the music world on November 5, 2021, when Travis Scott’s performance at the Astroworld festival in Houston Texas devolved into chaos. The situation became a tragedy when too many fans simultaneously rushed the stage at the event, coupled with the fact that the human stampede took place in an area near the stage with extremely limited space, leading to 10 deaths and over 300 injuries, with 25 of those requiring hospitalization. While this chaos was unfolding, many fans in the audience were heard chanting to stop the show and some fans even climbed up the stage in an attempt to get Scott to stop his performance. However, Scott kept on performing, only pausing the show on three occasions. Scott’s decision not to stop the show was strongly criticized following the incident, and several lawsuits were filed against him and the company that hosted the event. Scott claims to have not been aware of how severe the situation was and claims to have not noticed the stampede.

Many reporters and several fans in attendance have claimed that it would have been impossible for Scott to have not noticed the stampede from his vantage point on the stage. Others have pointed out that in a video from the performance posted to social media by Scott’s girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, you can clearly see an ambulance moving into the crowd, further casting doubt on Scott’s assertion that he was unaware of the impending tragedy. Many have also pointed out that the screams from the victims and the chants to stop the show were deafening and could be heard throughout the arena. 

Scott also has a history of inciting violence at his concerts; he has been arrested twice on charges of inciting a riot and disorderly conduct- once in 2013 and once in 2019- after some of his performances transformed into chaotic riots. This was also not the first time that an incident like this one had occurred at Astroworld- during a performance at the Astroworld festival in 2019, a crowd stampede left three people injured. In addition, many have blamed Scott, who organized the event, for the lack of security and crowd control measures which, if increased, would have reduced the likelihood of such tragedies occurring. 

In the aftermath of the event, Scott posted his official reaction to the tragedy on Twitter, saying, ”I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival. Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life. I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support families in need. Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department, and NRG Park for their immediate response and support. Love You All”. 

Scott’s girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, also issued a statement saying, “Travis and I are broken and devastated… I want to make it clear we weren’t aware of any fatalities until the news came out after the show and in no world would have continued filming or performing.” Additionally, several artists issued statements and expressed their condolences to the victims following the event. These artists include Drake, Roddy Rich, Kanye West, Bun B, and Megan Thee Stallion. 

As a consequence of the tragedy at Astroworld, some companies began distancing themselves from Scott. Among the companies that have disassociated themselves from Scott is Epic Games, which removed a Travis Scott emote from their popular game Fortnite. Nike also indefinitely postponed the launch of a planned Travis Scott collaboration that was originally set to launch in 2022. An investigation into the incident has been launched, and as of November 30, 2021, no arrests have been made in connection with the incident.