SZA halts concert after someone passes out, references Astroworld tragedy
SZA, who performed at Astroworld before the crowd surge that left 10 people dead, paused a concert Thursday after someone fainted, videos show.
The "Normal Girl" singer halted her Salt Lake City, Utah, show, asked staffers to hand out water and addressed the Astroworld tragedy, according to videos posted to TikTok.
"This person’s literally flat out like passed ... out ... like flat on the ground non-responsive and it's important that we just make sure they’re OK," she told the crowd.
"Way more water," she instructed the staff. "My personal water ... bring all the water ... I don’t care ... every last one."
Then she referenced Astroworld.
"Some may think, 'Hey people pass out all the time.' But people don’t die at concerts all the time," she said to a cheering crowd.
Attorneys for the family of Ezra Blount, a 9-year-old boy who suffered brain trauma in the crowd surge at the Astroworld Festival, said over the weekend that he had died, bringing the death toll to 10.
His parents have secured the services of high-profile lawyer Benjamin Crump to represent them in a lawsuit alleging that organizers failed at crowd control during the planned two-day festival organized by hip-hop star Travis Scott.
SZA, 32, had performed at the Houston festival earlier in the night. After her set, she posted a picture of her hooked up to fluids, saying she wasn't feeling well and apologizing for not being able to "kick it w the crowd tnt."
The day after the festival, SZA tweeted: "Speechless about last night I’m actually in shock n don’t even know what to say .. just praying for everyone in Houston especially the families of those that lost their lives."
She canceled a show in Austin that night, apologizing and saying she had a high fever.
Scott, who was performing during the crowd surge at Astroworld, is being accused of keeping the concert going even though people were getting injured in the crowd, and authorities had announced a mass casualty event.
His litigation attorney, Edwin McPherson said, “Travis Scott didn’t know that there was a mass casualty event that was called.”
“Nobody told him, nobody told his crew. When finally somebody communicated something to his crew that this was the last song that was about 10:10, Travis said ‘OK, last song’ and he stopped it when he was told to stop it," McPherson said.
Scott said in an Instagram story a day after the tragedy that he was “devastated” by what took place.
“I could never imagine anything like this just happening,” he said. “My fans really mean the world to me, and I always just really want to leave them with a positive experience. Any time I can make out ... anything that’s going on, I’d stop the show and ... help them get the help they need.”
