"The Media Wants to Put it on Me:" Travis Scott Gives First Interview Since Astroworld Tragedy

In his first interview since Astroworld Festival in November, Travis Scott has a conversation with Charlamagne tha God about the fatal Houston event.

As controversy surrounding Astroworld Festival 2021 continues to swirl, Travis Scott has broken his silence. In a surprise interview, the rapper spoke with Charlamagne tha God during a 51-minute discussion to offer clarity on his role in the fatal incident.

After asking how Scott was feeling, the rapper shakily responded that he'd been on an "emotional rollercoaster" in the recent weeks, giving context to the festival that was hit will 1,500 lawsuits according to Billboard.

“I’ve just been in a room for awhile—a lot of thoughts. I’ve been doing this for such a long time and nothing like this [has] ever happened. At the end of the day, fans are your family, so you feel like you’ve lost something," Scott said.

When Charlamagne asked Scott being seen at a recent golfing event he attended — his first public outing since Astroworld Festival, according to Buzzfeed News — the rapper shared that a fan just wanted to take a picture.

Using the interview as a mental catharsis, Scott revealed much of what occurred from his perspective before, during and after the festival.

“It wasn’t until minutes [before] the press conference that I found out exactly what happened," Scott said. "Even after the show, you’re just kind of hearing things, but I didn’t know the exact details until minutes before the press conference. Even in that moment, you’re just like ‘Wait—you know—what?’”

Scott claimed not to hear his fans screams to stop the show, but the didn't stop Charlamagne from asking the rapper about rage culture.

“Us as artists, we trust professionals to make sure that people leave safely. This isn’t even like a regular show as far as the energy. People didn’t show up to be harmful, people showed up to have a good time and something unfortunate happened. We really just gotta figure out what that was.”

With Scott's now-infamous Instagram story having made viral headway after Astroworld Festival, he shared his motive for the video, explaining that he didn't fully know what happened at the show. Earlier in the day, he was only told by Houston Chief of Police, Troy Finner, that a mishap occurred at the Astroworld Festival merch booth.

I was just in a headspace of trying to get communication out to my fans. I had literally no information, so I was just trying to figure it out and communicate to them," Scott said. "My true intentions of it was really just trying to get a message across and wanting to touch to the fans, touch to the family—we’re here, we’re grieving—and we’ll get through this process.”

While Scott agreed that he had a responsibility as headliner of the festival, he denied being the cause of negligence, adding that he felt like he did everything he could.

“Everything I physically [could], sure, yes. And, if knowing what was going on … you just wish you could have done something better. But, standing there, 1,000 percent.”

He also took aim at the media, for pinning the tragedy, where 10 people died, on him.

“I’m the face of the festival... I’m the artist. So yeah, the media wants to put it on me.”

According to Buzzfeed News, in recent court documents, Scott has maintained his stance in having no legal liability in after the deaths of ten Astroworld Festival attendees.