Lawyer representing Astroworld victim calls Travis' team 'tone-deaf'
The attorney for a 10-year-old victim who was killed in at the Astroworld concert called rapper Travis Scott's team "stunningly tone deaf" after they accused law enforcement of trying to "sabotage" Travis' new album with the release of their investigation.
Bob Hilliard is representing 10-year-old victim Ezra Blount who was trampled to death during the Astroworld concert in 2021. The family is suing Travis, claiming that he is at fault for their child's death following the announcement in June that the rapper will not be facing charges for those killed during his performance.
Hilliard told TMZ: "For an artist making his living with music, these are stunningly tone-deaf comments about this preventable tragedy that took so many lives and injured so many." One of Travis' lawyers told TMZ that the release of the Houston Police Department investigation was purposefully timed to negatively impact the release of Travis' new album Utopia.
Hilliard added: "Of course they would only focus on how the report's release date hurts their album sales instead of the facts contained inside of the report." One alarming note that was found inside of the investigation report that caught Hilliard's eye were texts that were sent from a contract worker to the event organiser of Astroworld. In the text, the worker shared his concerns about the night, saying "Someone's going to end up dead" after seeing people get trampled in the crowd.
Although Travis will not be charged, Blount's family as well as other victims of Astroworld, are going to be suing the rapper. At the Astroworld Festival at NRG Park in Houston on November 5, 2021 a fatal crowd crush took place the first night. The festival already faced issues with crowd control the day before, but the crush occurred during Travis' set. That night eight people were killed and two others died in the hospital in the following days. The cause of death for these concertgoers was ruled as "compressive asphxiation" causing suffocation due to external pressure.
Inside Stormi Webster's birthday bash with giant rainbow slideHilliard told TMZ: "For Mr. Scott to allow his lawyers and spokespeople to make the reckless and untrue statement that just because he was not indicted means he's blame-free is arrogant and insulting to the memory of 10-year-old Ezra as well as the other victims of this terrible night."