Photo by Scott Harris


Public Enemy frontman and rap icon Chuck D has released an open letter, calling out Live Nation and other music industry professionals in the wake of Travis Scott’s deadly AstroWorld event earlier this month.

10 have died and scores of fans were injured at the 50,000-person event, after a deadly crowd surge left people gasping for air and fighting to stay on their feet.

Scott, who trumpeted AstroWorld as “the largest artist-curated music festival in the world,” has remained under fire through the event’s fallout, criticized by many for not stopping the event as ambulances struggled to get into the crowd.

From Chuck D’s perspective, he writes, “I cannot believe we’re at the point where I gotta say this out loud: Travis Scott is a performer, an act, not a concert promoter. He doesn’t run sound or venues or festivals or their staff. He doesn’t build stages or coordinate logistics, he’s not an expert in crowd control or security or emergency medical services. But he does trust Live Nation and all the other concert promoters who are supposed to do all of this.”

Chuck D later continues, “I’m tired of these corporations shucking their most crucial responsibility. I’m not buying the Young Black Man did it. He’s being blamed for a crime while the old white men running the corps that Travis and his fans trusted with their lives stay quiet in the shadows… So I am calling on Michael Rapino’s entire team at Live Nation and a consortium of all the major concert promoters out there to do the right thing. To step up and step out of the shadows to fix these situations and save lives.”

Read the full letter below: