Travis Scott Blasted By Astroworld Festival Victim’s Lawyer For Criticizing Police Report
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Travis Scott has received backlash after his attorney accused Houston police of releasing the final report about Astroworld Festival in an attempt to negatively impact sales of his new album Utopia.
Bob Hilliard, an attorney for the family of nine-year-old Astroworld victim Ezra Blount, spoke out against Scott, blaming him for allowing his lawyers to release a “tone deaf” statement regarding record sales in light of the lives lost.
“For an artist making his living with music, these are stunningly tone deaf comments about this preventable tragedy that took so many lives and injured so many,” Hilliard told DailyMail. “This extremely detailed and damning report confirms both the negligence and extreme gross negligence of those involved, including the Travis Scott team.”
He continued, “For Mr. Scott to allow his lawyers and spokespeople to make the reckless and untrue statement that just because he was not indicted means he’s blame-free is arrogant and insulting to the memory of 10-year-old Ezra as well as the other victims of this terrible night. Of course they would only focus on how the report’s release date hurts their album sales instead of the facts contained inside of the report.”
The investigative report, which was released by the Houston Police Department on Friday (July 28), consists of 1,300 pages. It details what led up to the deadly crowd rush that resulted in the death of 10 victims, as well as injuries to dozens of other concertgoers. It was made available to the public shortly after Scott’s fourth studio album Utopia hit streaming services that same day.
Kent Schaffer, Scott’s attorney, spoke with TMZ about his belief that the timing of the report’s release was calculated, inferring that the intent was to create bad publicity surrounding Utopia. “The timing of the Houston Police Department report’s release, coinciding with the launch of Travis Scott’s highly anticipated album, is anything but coincidental,” the lawyer said in a statement.
Schaffer also appeared to defend Travis as being non-complicit in the tragic crowd rush, arguing that he paused his performance on numerous occasions to help deescalate the situation. “Travis’ commitment to his audience’s safety and well-being is well-documented,” the statement reads in part. “As reported countless times, he actively stopped the show three separate times.” In June, it was announced that Scott will not face any criminal charges in relation to the incident.
Travis Scott’s Utopia album is his first full-length release since the Astroworld Festival, which took place on Nov. 5, 2021. The festival was inspired by the Houston native’s 2018 album Astroworld, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and has since been certified four-times platinum.
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