Categories
Trending

Family of 9-Year Old Ezra Blount Declines Travis Scott Funeral Coverage

Ezra Blount, at 9-years old, was the youngest victim of the Astroworld Festival tragedy. He sustained major injuries to his liver, brain, and kidney, tragically passing away after a coma. He was laid to rest in Texas on Nov. 23. Travis Scott, in an attempt to console the families, reached out to cover funeral costs, but the Blount family has declined the assistance of the rapper.

On Monday Nov. 29, XXL shared a statement enclosed with legal documents from Scott’s attorneys. Expressly, Bob Hilliard, the attorney representing Erza’s family, responded with a letter to La Flame’s attorney, Daniel Petrocelli.

The letter from Blount’s family in response to Travis Scott’s offer

Dear Mr. Petrocelli,

The loss of a child is like a faucet of unimaginable pain that has no off handle. To lose a child in the manner Treston lost Ezra compounds the pain as a parent, Treston cannot help but agonize over the terrible idea that Ezra’s last minutes were filled with terror, suffering, suffocation and worst of all surrounded by strangers, his dad unconscious underneath the uncontrolled crowd.

I don’t know if you’re a father. I don’t know if your client is a father. If you are, then all you have to do is put your child at 9 years old in Ezra’s place and you both know what happens to your gut, at the most basic and instinctive level.

Your client’s offer is declined. I have no doubt Mr. Scott feels remorse. His journey ahead will be painful. He must face and hopefully see that he bears some of the responsibility for this tragedy. There may be, and I hope there is, redemption and growth for him on the other side of what this painful process will be—and perhaps one day, once time allows some healing for the victims and acceptance of responsibility by Mr. Scott and others, Treston and Mr. Scott might meet—as there is also healing in that. For now, Mr. Scott must respect the fact that his pain and his devastation pale to Treston’s, Ezra’s mom, and the other victims.

I thank you for your note and I offer the above respectfully and directly so as to be sure we share an understanding of the path ahead.

The tragic events of Astroworld

Clearly, the unexpected and preventable nature of Ezra Blount’s death has devastated his family. With this in mind, it is important to see the basis of their worry.

According to a statement from GoFundMe, Ezra’s father, Treston Blount, said other concertgoers crushed his son during the surge. Due to a lack of oxygen, he could not breathe. Blount said he fell with Ezra on his shoulders, passed out, and both were trampled by the crowd.

The 9-year-olds grandparents found him in the hospital following the event. CBS News reported the following statement on Sunday, from the family’s attorney:

“Ezra sustained life-threatening injuries and was placed in a medically induced coma on life support in an attempt to combat his brain, liver, and kidney trauma.”

“Ezra’s grandparents said they later found him alone at the hospital in a coma, suffering from significant organ damage and severe brain swelling.”

Travis Scott was Ezra’s favorite rapper. Although Scott may mean well, the Astroworld Festival has left many of his. biggest fans traumatized and devastated. One can only hope there he’ll respect the family’s wishes and take responsibility while they mourn the life of their innocent child.

If you missed anything regarding the tragic Astroworld Festival, catch up here.

Written by Antoinette Ford

Categories
Trending

Astroworld Staff Instructed In Guidelines To Refer To Deceased Concertgoers As “Smurfs”

Astroworld staff was told to refer to the deceased victims of the crowd surge that happened on the 5th of November as “smurfs.” This is according to a 56-page report obtained by CNN and one of the Astroworld concert promoters. His name is Scoremore.

The document highlighted the various instructions directed towards staff in response to different situations at the fatal event. Over 50,000 fans flocked to the NRG Park in Houston to attend the two-day festival. However, things soon took a grim twist as eight people lost their lives while many others were injured after a deadly crowd surge. Among the victims were teenagers as young as 14 and 16.

Astroworld Concert “Smurf Guidelines”

The document states that Astroworld staff is to refer to the deceased victims as “smurfs” and to refrain from using the term “dead” or “deceased.” It’s unclear why they chose that specific term, but it is indeed puzzling. An Instagram user named @nuksantiago revealed in a video that he saw victims turn “black and blue,” as people tried to resuscitate them.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nuk Santiago (@nuksantiago)

Other guidelines in the text include safety measures for instances, such as handling evidence. What’s surprising is that the document doesn’t offer any protocols or safety measures in case of a crowd surge. This is in light of a similar incident in November 2019, where three concertgoers ended up in the hospital.Astroworld Concert Guidelines

In other news, Travis Scott announced that he would cater to the funeral costs for the victims losing their lives at the festival. The rapper also added, he would be partnering with BetterHelp to provide free mental health services for victims and their families. The rapper also promised to issue refunds to the attendees after the cancellation of the festival on November 6th. He also canceled his performance scheduled on the 13th at Day N Vegas.

Written by Sheila Maina

Twitter: @nazlin_sheila

Categories
Trending

Travis Scott Went to At Dave & Busters After Nightmare Astroworld Festival

As the details of the tragic Astroworld Festival begin to take shape, new information continues to swarm the internet. Travis Scott publicly stated he was completely unaware of the devastation surrounding his event. However, it has now been reported that he and rapper Drake, who appeared with him onstage at the event, attended an after-party at Dave & Busters following the show where eight attendees lost their lives

“Travis didn’t know the severity of the situation when he arrived at the party, as far as timing, this remains consistent with the fact that no one including the police had publicly confirmed the gravity of the events that had taken place,” a source shared with TMZ.   Here, a video supports Travis did tend to someone in the crowd who had passed out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bggq9xIRKM

The After-Party Challenging Travis Scott’s claims

Drake, who allegedly threw the after-party, said he was unaware of the deaths and injuries as well. Many questioned how the crowd’s cries for help were not heard.  Reportedly, Travis was at least 50 yards from the cameraman that pleaded for the show to cease. Speculation that Scott was unaware of deaths until the next day is now questionable. Other sources shared he left the after-party when alerted to the severity of the situation.

Judgments for the Astroworld victims

Scott took to social media to share his condolences and reveal his partnership with the Houston Police Department to render services where needed.  NRG Park, which was the event’s venue, had a $26 million liability policy in place to support the event.  However, unforeseen lawsuits after the crowd disaster, reportedly with a price tag into the hundreds of millions, will devour this amount.

“If the evidence shows that people were not trampled to death but instead died or injured because of pressure against them leaving them unable to breathe, then I think the producers will face even greater liability,” Rusty Hardin said. This Houston-based lawyer notes that there is a lot of video evidence to cover in order to rule precise judgments.

Will Travis Scott “rage” no more?

Inciting the crowd to “rage” is what brought Scott to musical stardom. Scott has even written super-fans’ wild actions into his lyrics; a fan who was paralyzed after diving from the nosebleeds at a 2017 show received a shoutout in Astroworld opener “Stargazing.”

At Astroworld Fest, fans looked forward to their chance to rage in the presence of their favorite rapper. Unfortunately, this rowdy act has caused Scott’s sudden demise. His Astroworld Festival now faces prevalent danger and so does he. He’s been a trusted (and expensive) headliner at many festivals in past, but now this could change.

Scott has faced considerable consequences following the show.  Fortnite has halted the sale of Scott’s The Out West emote following the event. Scott canceled his appearance at Day N’ Vegas,  a hip-hop festival that will be held in Vegas on Nov. 13. Furthermore, a petition arose calling for his removal from the 2022 Coachella line-up. Many fans have had enough, calling for a boycott of the rapper’s music.  Some listeners even cited feeling physically sick after listening to his music.  Distressed fans have pleaded with others via social media to utilize the “block music” on the Spotify platform, filtering out Scott’s music.

Follow us as we cover more from Astroworld Festival. @FMHipHop:  Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.

Written by Antoinette Ford