A Texas grand jury has decided not to indict the 'SICKO MODE' rapper in a criminal investigation of a deadly crowd surge at the 2021 Astroworld festival that killed 10 people and injured many.
- Jun 30, 2023
AceShowbiz - Travis Scott (II) has been cleared without criminal charges for the Astroworld tragedy. On Thursday, June 29, a Texas grand jury declined to indict the rapper in a criminal investigation of a deadly crowd surge at the 2021 Astroworld festival that killed 10 people and injured many.
Scott's lawyer Kent Schaffer confirmed that the Harris County grand jury had met and decided not to indict his client on any criminal charges stemming from the concert. The lawyer, however, claimed that it's unknown what charges that the jury initially considered.
"He never encouraged people to do anything that resulted in other people being hurt," Schaffer said. He added that the decision is "a great relief."
Schaffer then showed sympathy for the victims and their families, though he stressed, "But Travis is not responsible. Bringing criminal charges against him will not ease their pain." The rapper's lawyer additionally noted that the ex-boyfriend of Kylie Jenner will not be testifying for the case.
The "SICKO MODE" emcee also issued a statement following the decision. "Travis Scott will not be charged with criminal charges or any wrongdoing for his involvement with Astroworld festival," his representative told TMZ.
The rep continued, "Today's decision by the Harris County District Attorney confirms what we have known all along - that Travis Scott is not responsible for the Astroworld tragedy. This is consistent with investigative reporting by numerous media outlets and federal and state government reports that have squarely placed the onus for event safety crises on organizers, operators and contractors -- not performers."
"While waiting patiently for the District Attorney's decision to not file charges, Travis Scott has been inaccurately and wrongly singled out, despite stopping the show three separate times and being unaware of the events as they were unfolding. Now that this chapter is closed, we hope for the government efforts to focus on what is most important - stopping future heartbreaking tragedies like Astroworld from ever occurring again," the statement concluded.
Fans, meanwhile, thought that Scott should be held accountable for the tragedy. "People literally died. Why is this man not behind bars for being responsible of these tragic deaths what happened at astroworld was traumatic yet he gets away with it why," one person tweeted. Someone else said, "People literally were dying and he didn't stop once," referring to a viral video showing Scott continuing his performance after casualty declaration.
"He may be cleared but the fact he saw ambulances and people laying unconcious and he kept on singing is enough to prove HE AIN'T S**T. Like how do you support someone who don't care about his fans," one other commented. Echoing the sentiment, another added, "idc what anyone says my stance on this hasn't changed since it happened. there's absolutely no way he didn't see/hear people screaming and literally dying from up on that stage w/ all those lights shooting into the crowd. he's guilty and so is his team."
Some others jumped to the rapper's defense. "He's literally a rapper it should've been management's responsibility to take care of safety anyway," a fan noted. "Wasn't his fault to begin with," one other similarly wrote.
