Reckless musicians and lack of accountability
Sophie Salem, Staff Writer
On Nov. 5, 2021, Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival went from exhilarating to deadly in seconds. When a crowd of fans rushed toward the stage in excitement, many were left crushed and trampled, resulting in several lives lost. As of Nov. 10, nine people have been pronounced dead while many more are still fighting for their lives. When the chaos became intolerable, various fans yelled “Stop the show,” while Scott simply watched ambulance lights flashing through the crowd.
“The concert went on for 37 minutes after Houston police declared the incident a “mass casualty” and event staff attempted to get Scott to stop the show,” the Collegian Editorial said.
Since the concert, there have been varying opinions on whether Scott should be held accountable for so many deaths. The fact of the matter is yes, there was no reason for Scott to ignore the clear tragedy amongst his audience. Not to mention, this is not the first time Scott has encouraged violence at one of his shows. Back in 2015, Travis Scott told the crowd to storm the stage at Lollapalooza. He was soon arrested and charged for inciting a riot.
Many videos circulating social media show Scott obviously noticing the chaos in his audience. In one video, Scott kept singing while he watched a fan get dragged out of the stadium right before his eyes. Given that Scott could clearly tell there was something going on in the audience, he should undoubtedly be held accountable for this tragedy. Many have argued that it was his duty to continue the show, but if he had called attention to the chaos quicker, lives could have been saved and authorities may have been called sooner. Not to mention, other celebrities have taken it upon themselves to stop the entire show for minor inconveniences. For example, Harry Styles has stopped his entire show to tend to a fan enduring a medical emergency. In fact, Billie Eilish once gave her water bottle to a fan who was feeling faint.
A few days after the Astroworld incident, Travis Scott “apologized” through his Instagram story. Social media users have been continually commenting on how his apology was “fake” and “not real.” Some even say that he was pretending to cry. Scott expressed how devastated he was after the news of so many deaths and how he could never imagine something like this happening, however, this has become a Travis Scott pattern. Natalie Greenfield (’22) agrees that Travis Scott is one of many to blame.
“The events at Astroworld absolutely indicate that Scott should be indicted for the deaths considering Scott and his concert managers were warned about the event’s overcapacity and blocked exits. Scott consciously chose monetary rewards and increased ticket sales over the safety of concert goers,” Greenfield said.
After so much loss, it’s clear that Travis Scott needs to be held accountable for his denial of the chaos in the audience. He could have prevented even more tragedy by stopping the show sooner before being forced to. So far, over 46 lawsuits have been filed, one of which accused Scott of completely encouraging the crowd to rush toward the stage. With this whole issue being a complete mess, it is fans’ and other bystanders’ hope that Scott will take full responsibility for the deadly Astroworld concert.
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