Travis Scott’s lawyer claims the “timing of the Houston Police Department report” on the 2021 Astroworld tragedy coming out the same day as his new album is “anything but coincidence.”
Travis Scott released his album Utopia on Friday to great acclaim from his fans.
To their frustration, the Houston Police Department released their report in the 2021 Astroworld Festival tragedy on the same day, which his lawyer doesn’t think is a coincidence.
Ten people, ranging in age from nine to 27, died after being crushed in the crowd of 50,000 at the concert at NRG Stadium on November 5, 2021.
More than a dozen people were hospitalized and some 300 were treated for injuries at the scene.
Travis’ attorney, Kent Schaeffer, said TMZ he believed that HPD was on a double mission in releasing the 1,266-page report on the same day as Utopia’s release: hurting sales of the Utopia album and taking the heat off law enforcement for failing to hold Travis criminally accountable.
Report: Houston police released their 1,200+ page report on the 2021 Astroworld tragedy the same day Travis Scott released his album Utopia
A representative for Travis also told TMZ: “The timing of the release of the Houston Police Department report, coinciding with the release of the highly anticipated Travis Scott album, is anything but coincidental.”
“Travis Scott and his team were, as anticipated, fully cleared of any wrongdoing associated with the Astroworld tragedy by a grand jury based on the same report released today,” they continued. “It is outrageous that HPD has chosen to resort to tactics that attempt to discredit Travis and his team by casting doubt on how the unfortunate events at Astroworld occurred.”
The representative noted that “Travis’s commitment to the safety and well-being of his audience is well documented” and stated that he “actively stopped the show on three separate occasions.”
“We encourage the Houston Police Department to make peace with the fact that Travis Scott and his team were found innocent of any wrongdoing and to focus on what really matters: making sure tragedies like Astroworld never happen again on their watch.” , concluded the representative.
Utopia is the first LP that Travis has released since the incident. Police say the timing was unintentional.
According to the outlet, the rapper’s legal team is rejecting some allegations in the report.
One of them comes from a security guard who claimed that he tried to get the Butterfly Effect artist team to cancel the show during Drake’s performance, but was told that Drake had to finish the set.
Schaeffer said the injuries occurred before Drake took the stage, but no one informed Travis.
He also claimed that the police could have stopped the concert sooner than they did.
Unintentional: Utopia is the first LP Travis has released since the incident. Police say the timing was unintentional.
Mission: One of Travis’ lawyers says releasing the Astroworld report the same day Utopia was released served a double mission: hurting Utopia album sales and taking the heat off law enforcement for failing to hold Travis criminally accountable.
No Indictment: A grand jury declined to indict Travis in June. 10 people died in a surge of crowds at the November 2021 festival. More than 500 lawsuits have been filed since the tragedy, including some against Travis and Live Nation, the promoter of the concert.
According to the report, Travis told investigators that he was told to stop the show after Drake’s performance, and his attorney said that he followed all their instructions.
A 56-page event operations plan was drawn up before the festival began.
It included detailed protocols for various dangerous scenarios, including shootings, bomb or terrorist threats, and severe weather.
It did not include information on what to do in the event of a surge of crowds.
A grand jury declined to indict the Down in Atlanta rapper in June.
“Everything was presented to the grand jury and they found there was no criminal liability on Travis’s part,” Kent Schaffer said at a news conference.
“He never encouraged people to do something that would result in other people getting hurt.”
More than 500 lawsuits have been filed since the tragedy, including some against Travis and Live Nation, the concert’s promoter.
The families of two of the deceased have already reached an out-of-court agreement.
