Should Travis Scott be Held Responsible?

Fans of Travis Scott were eager to finally attend his third annual Astroworld Festival happening in his home city, Houston, Texas, after a year-long delay due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, at 11:06 pm ET, a concertgoer was found unconscious with blood on their face. Travis saw what was happening and briefly paused his show and directed paramedics to the person, then continued his performance as they carried them out. This unnamed victim passed away right after. 

That should have been the first sign for him not to continue with the show. Instead, he chose to continue as many terrible events remained unchecked. His choice led to eight deaths due to crowd surges and more than 300 people needing medical treatment. 

“People just went berserk, and I realized that people were dying,” concert attendee Amber told CNN. 

At one point, an ambulance arrived and tried to make its way through the crowd to provide medical assistance to the unconscious people suffocating while being trampled over. However, they were struggling as many people pushed them back, blocking those in need of medical aid. 

Understandably, Travis is not responsible for how his fans act, but he should have noticed these multiple red flags that should have made him stop the concert. Instead, his obliviousness led to the deaths of many people.  

His fans told him to stop the show on multiple occasions, so he wasn’t completely unaware of the situation at hand. A video showed the crowd chanting: “Stop the show!” Which he reacted by saying: “Who told me to stop?” Eyewitnesses say there were two occasions where concertgoers climbed onto the stage to warn him about the situation.

Even before the concert, Travis had a history of telling his concertgoers to ignore security and protocols and incite riots during his shows. Two years ago, while crowd surfing, a fan tried to grab his shoe and was trying to steal it. Subsequently, he reacted by spitting on the fan and telling the people in the mosh pit to beat them up. All of this was over a pair of shoes that cost him a penny. 

The overall structure of this event was a recipe for disaster. There were complaints of people breaking through the gates, but security guards were not doing anything. In addition to that, only two water stations were available and expected to account for 50,000 people for over two days. 

It’s predictable to see the outcome of this. Yet, it had gotten the thumbs up from Travis and his organizers, showing that they were willing to cut corners to profit more money. People go to a concert to make great memories; no one should ever have to fear dying. 

Written by Kiet Le | Graphic Designed by Kiet Le

Published November 19, 2021 | ePathfinder | Perspectives