Houston, TX – When disaster strikes, it’s not atypical for people to look for someone to blame in an attempt to make sense of the situation. In the case of Astroworld, some are pointing the finger at festival founder Travis Scott for continuing to perform for 37 minutes as the horrific events unfolded in the crowd of approximately 50,000.
Scott’s set kicked off at around 9:04 p.m. local time. Emergency personnel declared a “mass-casualty incident” at 9:38 p.m. local time and about 55 Houston Fire Department units responded and started performing CPR.
Roughly an hour into his performance, Scott noticed an emergency vehicle with sirens making its way through the crowd and shouted, “What the fuck is that?” He added, “If everybody good, put a middle finger up to the sky! You know what you came here to do.” From there, he erupted into “UPPER ECHELON” and sent two members of his entourage diving off the stage to crowd surf.
Travis Scott continuing his concert after noticing the ambulance #ASTROWORLDFest pic.twitter.com/de5hGSbezk
— THE REAL DEAL (@THEREAL69290605) November 6, 2021
Around 10 p.m., a woman and man climb up to the stage and screamed at the cameraman, “There is somebody dead in there! There is someone dead!” But their shrieks appeared to land on deaf ears.
And that was enough evidence for people to start holding Travis Scott responsible for the eight casualties and hundreds injured.
"Stop the show" and the staff did nothing. This shit is fucking heartbreaking #AstroWorld vc:@JanthonyOlivera pic.twitter.com/5vVZKLKV7h
— Ashmely?? (@Ashmelym) November 6, 2021
On Saturday (November 6), the hashtag “Cancel Travis Scott” became a trending Twitter topic as people’s ire turned toward the multi-platinum rapper.
But as Scott explained in an Instagram video, he was unaware how serious the situation had become. Noticeably drained, Scott insisted he would’ve acted sooner had he truly understood what was going on.
“I want to send out prayers to the ones that was lost last night,” he begins. “We’re actually working right now to identify the families, so we can help a system though this tough time. My fans really mean the world to me, and I always wanna leave them with a positive experience and anytime I can make out anything that’s going on,
“I stop the show and help them get the help they need, you know? I could just never imagine the severity of the situation.”
View this post on Instagram
Travis Scott then assured everyone he was cooperating with authorities to figure out what went wrong.
“We’ve been working closely with everyone to get to the bottom of this — the City of Houston, HPD, fire department, everyone that can help us — to help us figure this out,” he added. “So if you have any information, please contact the local authorities. Everybody just continue to keep your prayers. I’m honestly just devastated.
“I could never imagine anything like this happening. I’m gonna do everything I can to help keep you guys updated and keep you guys informed of what’s going on. Love you all.”
In addition to the eight fatalities — which included a 14-year-old — Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner confirmed a total of 25 people were transferred to local hospitals from the venue and 13 remain hospitalized, including five people under 18.
Despite Scott’s explanation, the accusatory tweets continue to pour in on Sunday (November 7). Check out some of them below.
everyone was yelling to stop and you still continued with the show how can you explain this bro pic.twitter.com/2UQRPZt144
— sergen (@s9rgen) November 6, 2021
I don’t give a fuck Travis Scott needs to be canceled. This MF was still performing after he seen somebody was dying. #canceltravisscott pic.twitter.com/bQ0Yqt6Drq
— A Blessing (@BLM_004) November 7, 2021
This man saw an ambulance said “wtf is that” then told everyone to put their middle fingers up and they did. This is hell on earth #CANCELTRAVISSCOTT https://t.co/mgfhlsa5bD
— ?✨♡??????-????? ♡✨? (@Shaunaa_leigh97) November 6, 2021
I wish people would stop using the term "cancel" when it comes to what happened at AstroWorld. This isn't some little social media squabble bullshit, 8 people DIED in horrific ways and many more were injured. Calling it "cancelling" just infantilizes the issue#canceltravisscott
— NixUniverse (CHECK PINNED TWEET) (@NixUniverse2) November 7, 2021
Ya’ll gon support a man that watched people begging for help? Dude was just humming and watching the dead bodies being carried out. #CANCELTRAVISSCOTT
— §ugaPlumPrincess (@ju1cii) November 6, 2021
#CancelTravisScott fuck him this shit is soo fake he couldn't even act normal https://t.co/msWcvzkfbN
— Nicki Dibiase DDT (@petercolon123) November 7, 2021
This all happens because of Travis Scott btw #Astroworld #CancelTravisScott pic.twitter.com/roXKVaiTQ2 https://t.co/roXKVaiTQ2
— D ( Check Pinned ) (@TheDaviesRole) November 7, 2021
if @trvisXX doesn’t get fucking cancelled after this, i’ve lost all hope in humanity.
Y’all will cancel people for the dumbest shit, but his human garbage ass continues a concert while people are dead & dying? Fuck all that shit. #CancelTravisScott— Caitlin Michele (@CaitlinnMichele) November 7, 2021
#canceltravisscott fuck him fuck that camera man ! & fuck his production team and fuck all those who took last night as a joke ! I'm extremely livid ! ? These artists really don't gaf about the fans it's all money to them !
— MRSARIESSSS (@fRANEE_) November 6, 2021