Houston police have been accused by Travis Scott's lawyer of strategically timing the release of their investigation into the deadly crowd crush at the 2021 Astroworld music festival to coincide with the launch of his latest album, "Utopia." According to attorney Kent Schaffer, the authorities were well aware of the album's high-profile release when they made the findings of their 18-month probe public. However, Houston police claim that the timing of the 1,266-page report on the Astroworld deaths was merely coincidental.
Despite the grand jury's decision not to indict the rapper on criminal charges related to the festival, Travis Scott is still facing multiple lawsuits from victims and their families. Expressing his devastation over the tragedy on social media, Scott has requested that the personal lawsuits against him be dismissed.
In the aftermath of the tragic deaths at the Astroworld Festival concert in November 2021, Travis Scott expressed being "devastated" by the events.
The tragic incident at the Astroworld festival resulted in the deaths of ten people, including a nine-year-old boy, due to a stampede at NRG Park in Houston. Additionally, around 300 others required treatment at a field hospital during the event.
Travis Scott has previously claimed that he was unaware of multiple fans being trampled and passing out in the crowd while he was performing at the November 2021 event. Fan-captured footage showed Scott noticing an ambulance in the crowd and expressing confusion about it, but he continued the show after crew members came on stage to speak with him.
According to Schaffer, the rapper maintained that he stopped the show after another performer, Drake, left the stage, following instructions he received through his earpiece from authorities. This adherence to the authorities' instructions is cited as the reason why Travis Scott was not charged with a crime, as stated by his lawyer in an interview with TMZ.