Cedric the Entertainer doesn’t feel Travis Scott should be held responsible for any part of the Astroworld tragedy because in his opinion as a fellow entertainer, the “goosebumps” artist did his job, however, the police and security in attendance did not.
As the rapper continues to deal with the fallout from his festival tragedy that left 10 dead and hundreds injured, he can count King of Comedy Cedric the Entertainer among those who believe the true fault of the disaster lies with the ones whose jobs it were to provide protection for attendees.
When asked whether the performer is responsible for keeping the crowd in control at the 29:22 mark of the interview, Cedric drew comparisons to a time when he performed for a crowd of 3,000 and a fight broke out. Noting the difference between the two events and that his venue was much smaller than Astroworld’s, he explained that even then it was difficult to tell what was happening while on stage, so he could only imagine what Scott experienced.
“I looked at some of the videos and everything, I mean, the police were right there in front of them and they’re not reacting. That’s their job,” he said during an interview on “The Domenick Nati Show.” “I’m the performer. So I really find it hard that people are trying to cancel Travis. I find it rude that people are trying to blame him saying he should have stopped…”
The “Barbershop” actor argued his stance in Scott’s corner by painting a picture of the mindset of performers when they are “just feeling energy” while in the zone during shows.
“For the most part, he’s there to entertain. He’s in an entertainment vibe. He’s got a very hype show, he’s jumping, he’s hopping around, lights, explosions, you know, it’s that!,” he exclaimed. “[As Travis Scott] I’m not looking around at what’s really happening, I’m just feeling energy! And only when I recognize that the energy is negative will I be able to stop and say ‘Aight cool let me get off stage’ or slow it all down or whatever but if it’s poppin’, it’s poppin’!”
Scott, who broke his silence to address the controversy during an interview with Charlamagne Tha God, claimed that’s exactly what happened and he had no knowledge of the chaos in the crowd until it was too late. “It’s so crazy because I’m that artist too. Anytime you can hear something like that, you want to stop the show,” he told the host of “The God’s Honest Truth.”
“You want to make sure fans get the proper attention they need. Anytime I could see anything like that, I did. I stopped it a couple times to just make sure everybody was OK. And I really just go off the fans’ energy as a collective call and response. I just didn’t hear that.”
Although plenty of people still hold Scott accountable for the tragedy for a number of reasons, including his history of encouraging moshing and wild antics at concerts, Cedric maintains that he isn’t a fan of the backlash the 30-year-old artist has faced.
“I just really don’t like that people, this particular instance, are trying to blame him,” Cedric the Entertainer said. “Never was he up onstage yelling ‘F**k em up, let’s turn it up, let’s go! Let’s get wilder!’ He didn’t incite it so I really wouldn’t like him to take blame for that.”
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