Travis Scott will not face criminal charges over deadly crowd crush at festival

The rapper Travis Scott will not face criminal charges over a deadly crowd crush during his concert, a Texas grand jury has decided.

Scott, 32, was performing at the Astroworld music festival in Houston, Texas, in 2021, when 10 people were killed in a crowd crush.

His lawyer, Kent Schaffer, confirmed that a grand jury had decided not to indict the rapper on any criminal charges stemming from the event.

“He never encouraged people to do anything that resulted in other people being hurt,” Schaffer said, adding that the decision is “a great relief”.

Police and federal officials have been investigating whether Scott, the concert promoter Live Nation, and others had sufficient safety measures in place.

Schaffer said he feels sympathy for those who were killed at the festival and their families. “But Travis is not responsible,” he said. “Bringing criminal charges against him will not ease their pain.”

The rapper, whose real name is Jacques Bermon Webster, has two children with Kylie Jenner. The Kardashians star and Scott officially renamed their son this week, 16 months after his birth.

Scott had previously said he didn’t know fans were injured during the crush.

“It wasn’t until minutes until the press conference [after the show] until I figured out exactly what happened,” he told radio star Charlamagne Tha God on his YouTube channel in 2021.

“Even after the show you are just hearing things but I did not know the exact details.

“And even at that moment you’re like, ‘wait, what?’ People pass out, things happen at concerts, but something like that…”

Nine-year-old Ezra Blount was the youngest person to die from injuries suffered during the crush.

The others who died ranged in age from 14 to 27.

Some 300 people were treated at the festival site and 13 were admitted to hospital.

Scott still faces multiple civil suits over the deaths and injuries.