The family of the youngest person to be killed at the Astroworld festival in Houston on 5 November have declined Travis Scott’s offer to pay for the cost of his funeral.
Ezra Blount was just nine years old when he was killed during the crowd surge at the music event in NRG Park, which happened while Scott himself was on the stage.
In the aftermath, Scott cancelled a number of appearances, with sources telling Variety he was too ‘distraught’ to perform, and made offers to all the families of those who died to pay for funeral expenses.
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However, in a letter seen by Rolling Stone that was written by the family lawyer of Blount, Bob Hilliard, his family said: “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.”
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The offer had originally been sent to Hilliard and his co-counsel Ben Crump through Scott’s own lawyer Daniel Petrocelli.
Ezra was laid to rest at a funeral service in Texas the day before on 23 November.
In that letter, Petrocelli wrote: “Travis is devastated by the tragedy that occurred at the Astroworld Festival and grieves for the families whose loved ones died or were injured.
“Travis is committed to doing his part to help the families who have suffered and begin the long process of healing in the Houston community.
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“Toward that end, Travis would like to pay for the funeral expenses for Mr. Blount’s son.”
The lawyer added that the acceptance of the offer would ‘have no effect’ on the lawsuit that has been filed against Scott by the families of the victims, as well as another filed by Blount’s father Treston.
However, Hilliard added that ‘for now’ Scott will have to ‘respect’ the fact that his own ‘devastation’ is nothing compared to Ezra’s family.
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He said: “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.”
Hilliard later told the magazine: “We were pretty firm. With all due respect, no.
"This isn’t a photo-op story here. This is a ‘who’s responsible and why’ type of investigation. And he’s on the short list.”
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Ezra was sitting on his father’s shoulders at the event in Houston when the two were caught in the surge that resulted in the death of 10 people, his grandparents have previously said.
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