Travis Scott’s lawyer says he had ‘no idea’ people were being crushed at Houston concert

Travis Scott’s lawyer said on Friday the rapper was completely unaware of the disaster unfolding at his Houston concert where nine people were crushed in the crowd last Friday because the ambulances called to help them looked to him like golf carts, he was blinded by flashing lights and couldn’t hear because of his earpiece. 

The rapper has been holed up in his Texas mansion since the tragedy last week that led to nine fans’ deaths. Some of the families have already filed lawsuits against him and hundreds more who were at the concert but didn’t die are also preparing to take legal action. 

There are now major questions over what Scott knew and when, and whether security and police at the Astroworld event could have done anything to stop the deaths and injuries. 

It is not the first time the 30-year-old rapper has been accused of inciting a riot; in 2017, he was arrested for inciting a riot in Arkansas, and he was also arrested in 2015 for disorderly conduct at Lollapalooza. 

Scott’s attorney Ed McPherson said on Friday morning: ‘This obviously was a systemic breakdown that we really need to get to the bottom of before he start pointing fingers at anyone.’ 

Scott’s attorney Ed McPherson told Good Morning America on Friday he had no idea what was happening in the crowd

Houston Police Department declared a mass casualty situation at 9.40pm but Scott continued playing for another 40 minutes. 

McPherson said on Friday that Scott and his team didn’t get the message, and that cops at the event seemed unaware of it too.

‘We’ve seen footage of police just walking about and not looking like it was a mass casualty event. Clearly, the important thing is that never got to Travis, never got to Travis’ crew. He is up there trying to perform. He does not have any ability to know what’s going on down below. Certainly on a mass level.

‘Travis didn’t really understand the full effect of everything until the next morning. 

‘Truly, he did not know what was going on. 

‘He’s on a riser at one point, he sees one boy down and asks security to stop the show. 

‘You say an ambulance but it looked more like a golf cart with lights, he wasn’t sure what that was but he stopped the show for that. 

Scott’s lawyer says he didn’t know people required medical help because they were being  removed from the crowd on golf carts that didn’t look like ambulances. Above, one fan is taken out of the crowd

Scott couldn’t ‘hear or see’ anything because of the pyrotechnics on stage and because he was wearing an earpiece, his attorney said

Scott’s lawyer says he didn’t know how many people had died until the next morning, despite cops declaring it a mass casualty event at 9.40pm on Friday

At least two Houston Police Department cops were spotted holding their phones up and filming at Travis Scott’s deadly Astroworld gig 30 minutes after it was declared a mass-casualty event. Fans now say it’s wrong of them to blame Scott for the tragedy when they didn’t prevent it either 

‘But understand, when he’s up on the stage and has flash pops going off around him and he has an ear monitor with music blasting , he can’t hear anything. He can’t see anything,’ he sad.  

McPherson added that Scott was also unaware of fans who stormed security gates and that he was ‘preparing for the concert’ when that was going on. 

He claims he has ‘grown up’ since his previous arrests for inciting riots, and that he was trying to give his fans a lively show after COVID-lockdowns.

‘He certainly was not aware of people storming gates. He doesn’t run security. He was preparing for the concert. 

‘Travis as an artist has grown up a lot. I’ve spoken to him personally about it. He didn’t understand the magnitude of his power on the stage, and he has matured over the years. 

‘I think it’s nothing more than any other performer. You want your audience to be engaged. You don’t want them to be sitting down. He didn’t have anything like this in mind. 

Scott, 30, outside his home on Thursday on the phone. The rapper has offered to pay the funeral expenses of those who died and their counseling bills, but the families of the victims say it’s not enough

Kylie Jenner, Scott’s partner, issued this statement on Instagram earlier this week insisting they were both unaware of the deaths at the time they were happening 

Bharti Shahani, a senior at Texas A&M, died on Thursday from injuries sustained at Astroworld

‘He wanted them to be engaged, have a good time. We’re coming out of COVID. This is what this festival was all about,’ he said.  

Fans have also claimed that Houston cops were taking videos of the concert and selfies in the crowd instead of trying to get people to safety after it was declared a mass casualty event. 

Alex Boro, who attended the event, told FOX News it’s wrong for Houston PD to blame the deaths on Scott when its officers were there and not acting urgently enough either. 

‘I didn’t know the extent of what was going on. The cops were just standing there taking selfies, and then all this news came out, and it’s crazy how they were doing that when all this other stuff was going on.

‘I’m just upset how the Houston Police Department is trying to twist the story when they had all the power to stop everything when they were just standing there. 

‘Especially when they knew what was going on as they said they did. I feel like they’re just lying to the public.’ 

Travis Scott and Drake could pay ‘billions’ in damages as 150 victims join lawsuit suing the rappers after deadly crush at Astroworld concert 

Travis Scott and Drake could pay ‘billions’ in damages after a lawsuit involving 150 people injured in the deadly crush at the Astroworld concert was announced.

Powerhouse Texas attorney Thomas J. Henry, father of Liam Payne’s girlfriend Maya Henry, says that he is being contacted by more people ‘by the hour.’

Eight people were killed at the NRG stadium on Friday night, more than 300 people received treatment at an emergency field hospital set up there, 11 others went into cardiac arrest and dozens more were knocked unconscious. 

‘More and more injured victims are contacting my firm by the hour,’ said Henry. ‘I believe the damages suffered by its victims could total in the billions.’

Among his clients is 23-year-old concertgoer Kristian Paredes whose complaint accuses Scott and Drake of ‘inciting mayhem’ at the event.

The eight dead (L-R): Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Pena, 23; Jacob Jurinek, 20; Franco Patino, 21; Brianna Rodriguez, 16; Danish Baig, 27; Axel Acosta, 21; John Hilgert, 14; Madison Dubiski, 23.

Texas-resident Paredes says he was left ‘severely injured’ and is demanding $1 million to cover the costs of his healthcare treatment.

He ‘felt an immediate push’ at the front of the general admission section as Travis Scott got on stage, the complaint said. 

‘Many begged security guards hired by Live Nation Entertainment for help, but were ignored.’

The suit, filed in Houston’s Harris County court, claims Scott ‘had incited mayhem and chaos at prior events’ and that ‘defendants knew or should have known of (Scott’s) prior conduct.’

The suit also accuses Canadian rap superstar Drake, who joined Scott’s headline set, of contributing to the surge.

‘As Drake came onstage alongside of Travis Scott he helped incite the crowd even though he knew of Travis Scott’s prior conduct,’ the complaint charges.

He continued to perform even as the ‘crowd became out of control’ and the ‘crowd mayhem continued,’ it added. 

High-profile attorney Ben Crump announced Sunday he had also filed suit against Scott and Astroworld.   

Crump has represented the families of police killing victims George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

He and co-counsel Bob Hilliard filed suit Sunday on behalf of 21-year-old concertgoer Noah Gutierrez, who described ‘a scene of chaos and desperation.’

The lawyers said they expected to file suit on behalf of other concertgoers during the week.

‘We are hearing horrific accounts of the terror and helplessness people experienced – the horror of a crushing crowd and the awful trauma of watching people die while trying unsuccessfully to save them,’ Crump and Hilliard said in the statement.

‘We urge others who suffered physical or emotional injury or witnessed the events of that day to contact us.’