Travis Scott Faces Backlash From Astroworld Victims After Making $5 Million Donation To Charity
March 9 2022, Published 12:13 p.m. ET
Travis Scott can't make all of his problems go away just by throwing money at it.
The rapper is catching flak from victims of the Astroworld stampede after he pledged to donate $5 million to charity. They claim Scott is trying to play the "good guy act" before going to court over the Astroworld tragedy.
Astroworld was a Huston based festival that ran from 2018 to 2019 before its most recent show which was cut short due an estimated 50,000-person crowd causing several attendants to suffer from "crowd crush" during Scott's set.
This week, the 30-year-old rapper started a multi-tier initiative to fund "Project HEAL." The $5 million donation is made to promote safety at live concerts and a portion of the funds will be set aside for scholarships for black students and colleges.
Scott, since the deadly concert, has donated to several of his own charities such as the Catus Jack Foundation and his Wayman Webster Scholarship Fund.
Victims and families of the tragic Astroworld concert aren't letting Scott off as they believe he's partly responsible for the 10 deaths and countless injuries that occured during his 2021 show.
Scott is facing a massive lawsuit, where about 2,800 alleged victims are seeking billions of dollars. The plaintiffs include several family members of those who died during the two-day festival.
The judge, assigned to the case, Kristen Hawkin, issued a gag order last week so that the case can "be tried in the courtroom and not on social media or with press releases or other statements to the media."
Bob Hilliard, a Texas attorney who represents 708 of the alleged victims, accused Scott of violating the gag order with this latest announcement.
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In a statement released to Daily Mail, Hilliard claims, "However well-intentioned Mr. Scott's belated largesse may or may not be, there seems no reason to issue a press release or announce the specific part of the initiative as it relates to putting money into concert safety and making sure fans are safe at shows, other than to improperly attempt and sway potential jurors with the message, 'Look at me, I'm a good guy.'"
"Though Judge Hawkin’s order is primarily directed at counsel, Mr. Scott is also a party in this case, and should be held to the same reasonable restrictions, as he is much more capable of using his platform and his money to try and sway the entire Harris County jury pool, before one juror is actually selected,' Hilliard added.
