Search icon

Celebrity

30th Jun 2023

Travis Scott avoids charges over Astroworld tragedy

Ellen Fitzpatrick

The incident occurred in 2021.

Rapper Travis Scott will not face any criminal charges over the death of 10 people at the Astroworld music festival, a grand jury in Texas has decided.

10 people tragically lost their lives in November 2021 when Houston’s NRG Park became overcrowded while Scott was performing at the festival.

Around 50,000 people were in attendance at Astroworld when the over-capacity crowd began pushing towards the stage as Scott performed.

Due to a lack of air and space, many fainted and were trampled on by the crowd, with 10 people aged nine to 27, being killed due to compressive asphyxiation.

Despite cries of help from the crowd, organisers of the festival waited 20 minutes for the music to stop before evacuating the area.

With many criticising Scott, who shares two children with Kylie Jenner, for continuing to perform, one person recalled the “lifeless bodies being passed through the crowd in full view of the stage.”

Houston’s fire chief also said at the time that the concert should have been ended much earlier.

Scott has since said the tragedy left him “distraught” and was not aware of how bad the situation was until be got off stage.

“It is tragic that 10 innocent people were killed while trying to enjoy an evening of music and entertainment,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said, according to RTÉ. “But a tragedy isn’t always a crime, and not every death is a homicide.”

“No criminal charges will be filed in the incident,” a statement by Ogg’s office read.

There have been multiple lawsuits filed against the Astroworld festival organisers which many have claimed failed to ensure the area was safe for concertgoers.

There have also been lawsuits filed against Scott, promoters, concert site managers and several companies associated with the festival.

Due to Thursday’s ruling only concerning criminal proceedings, civil lawsuits are still allowed to proceed.

READ MORE