Following his surprise appearance at Travis Scottโs Astroworld late Friday night, during which eight people were killed and hundreds were more injured in what has been characterized as a โcrowd surge,โ Drake has broken his silence. The โTake Careโ rapper, who has been named along with Scott, Live Nation and several others in a growing number of lawsuits resulting from the November 5 performance, issued a statement Monday night expressing his grief over the tragedy.
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Drake published the following statement via Instagram:
Iโve spent the past few days trying to wrap my mind around this devastating tragedy. I hate resorting to this platform to express an emotion as delicate as grief but this is where I find myself. My heart is broken for the families and friends of those who lost their lives and for anyone who is suffering. I will continue to pray for all of them, and will be of service in any way I can, May God be with you all.
Meanwhile, Scottโs past behavior and rhetoric is garnering further scrutiny as footage of prior interviews and performances has resurfaced. Among them is a 2015 GQ video titled โHow to Rage with Travis Scott,โ the YouTube caption of which reads: โA Travis Scott show is crowd surfing, moshing, sweat, blood and vomit. And thatโs just Travis himself.โ
โSince I was 6, I wanted to be a fucking wrestler...So in performances, I always wanted to make it feel like it was the WWF or some shit,โ Scott says in the two-minute clip, in which he describes โragingโ as โhaving fun and expressing good feelings.โ
โI donโt need a stage to fucking perform, no. We just need something to stand onโit could be somebody,โ he continues with a chuckle. โI just need a platform. We donโt like people that just stand, whether youโre Black, white, brown, green, purple, yellow, blue. We donโt want you standing around, like, this is a no-stand zone.โ
While the segment is earnest and relatively lighthearted in tone, in light of Friday nightโs tragedy, Scottโs words have come back to haunt himโas likely will his encouragement for fans to โfind anything youโre gonna use to consume to get you lit...Whether itโs your drugs, or your water, or whether itโs your orange juice or your alcohol; do whatever you wanna do, man...โ
โWhen people go out, there is no going home, man,โ he tells GQ, musing that camping should be a constant of the concert experience. โThere is no going home,โ he continued. โItโs like, weโre gonna spend the night, and weโre gonna party all the way โtill the fucking sun comes up...at the end of the night you should be fucking throwing up.โ
While Scottโs ethos doesnโt differentiate him from legions of other entertainers across genres, other footage may prove far more damning as investigators and attorneys try to determine Scottโs culpability in the Astroworld tragedy. In another 2015 video that has gone viral since Friday, Scott stops a performance at Switzerlandโs Openair Frauenfeld to encourage concertgoers to โfuck...upโ a fan who attempted to grab one of the starโs shoes.
From the New York Post:
Footage from the Swiss gig shows Scott, 30, leaping into the crowd โ then pointing to a young-looking fan nearby after stumbling to get up.
โCome here, bitch,โ he shouts through his microphone, with the music stopping as he accuses the fan of trying to โtake my shoe.โ
โGet that motherfucker, get him!โ he shouts, telling other fans, โFuck him up! Fuck him up! Fuck him up!โ
The footage appears to show several people striking the fan as he tries to make his way to safety to a waiting security guard, with many chanting, โFuck that bitch!โ
Even as the crowd turns on the fan, Scott appears to make clear his threat is serious โ again shouting, โFuck him up! Fuck him up! Fuck him up!โ
The โSicko Modeโ star then appears to spit at the fan after he manages to escape the crowd and walk off.
โFuck his ass up!โ Scott again shouts โ throwing his mic after the fan as he walks away.
No such behavior by Scott was reported during Astroworld 2021. Nevertheless, numerous commenters have pointed out the seeming hypocrisy of Scott stopping his show to confront a fanโand inciting violence against themโbut continuing to perform as the chaos escalated while he was onstage Friday night.
โAnytime I could make out, you know, anything thatโs going on, you know I stop the show and, you know, help them get the help they need,โ Scott claimed during an Instagram story on Saturday night (h/t NY Post). โI could just never imagine the severity of the situation...Iโm honestly just devastated and I could never imagine anything like this just happening.โ
Pitchfork reports Scott plans to cover the funeral costs of those killed in what authorities are calling a โmass casualty incident.โ In addition to refunding the tickets of all Astroworld attendees, he is also partnering with BetterHelp to provide a month of free therapy โto those affected by the festival.โ
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