It’s been more than six months since ten people died and dozens more were hospitalized during the Travis Scott performance at the Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas. In the tragedy’s aftermath, hundreds of lawsuits were filed including one by a nine year old who later died from his injuries. The family of Ezra Blount is continuing with his lawsuit, and their attorney recently spoke out about a luxury car Scott owns that is valued at $5.5M.
Bob Hillard, who represents the Blount family, reached out to TMZ about the Bugatti Veyron Chiron Super Sport and told the outlet he thinks it’s “excessive” and not the best look. The litigator feels if Travis Scott, who also founded the Astroworld festival, would have spent even half as much as the car on increased security measures at the event it’s likely there would have been a different, less deadly outcome.
A representative for Travis Scott called his words an attempt to "exploit" the victims and said the car was purchased well before the Astroworld tragedy. Here's a look at the statement...
This latest attempt to exploit Astroworld victims and gaslight the media and the public is a new low. The car referenced was purchased way back in 2020 (well before the tragic events at Astroworld) and covered widely by the media — including TMZ — at that time. Misrepresenting a two-year-old car purchase to make an unprovoked and unjustified attack on Travis Scott is nothing more than another desperate publicity stunt to try to falsely blame Travis and intentionally manipulate public opinion, which won’t work.
The Astroworld Festival was beset by security problems long before Scott’s performance. There were several breaches at security checkpoints, and many people without tickets allegedly got into the event. When the performance began around 9 PM, thousands of people pushed forward, causing many to get trampled or crushed. The performance was stopped a few times because of injuries in the crowd, but it ultimately continued, leaving many to question why it wasn't stopped and who knew what information when.
As the full extent of the tragedy came to light, Scott released a statement saying he was “devastated” by what happened and would work with the police to help with their investigation however he could. It’s likely the ensuing litigation will go on for years given how many separate cases there are and how many companies are involved including Live Nation, which organized and managed the event. For an in-depth breakdown of exactly what happened and all the parties involved, you can check out the Houston Chronicles coverage, which did a full report and wrote numerous in-depth articles.
In the time since the Astroworld tragedy, Scott has had another kid with Kylie Jenner. He also took an extended break from performing, but he returned back in May for a concert in Miami. He has several upcoming dates planned, as well.
Following the events at Astroworld, many musicians released statements and pushed for increased safety measures at concerts, as well as increased concern from concertogers about protecting the people around them at shows. There have also been increased conversations around all age festivals and whether there should be more rules in place about what events underage people can attend.
