Travis Scott’s attorneys claim star’s phone ‘is LOST AT SEA at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico’ – and cannot be used as evidence in Astroworld lawsuit

Travis Scott’s lawyers claim his phone was lost at sea after he fell from a boat in the Gulf of Mexico in 2022 – after lawyers representing plaintiffs in the 2021 Astroworld tragedy asked him to turn over his phone records wear.

The musician, 32, was bandaged for about eight hours in Houston on Monday with hundreds of lawsuits filed against him and others the dead and injured at the 2021 Astroworld festival.

Before his deposition, attorneys for Astroworld’s plaintiff filed an emergency motion last week to obtain Scott’s phone records related to the festival, as well as records related to his entity XX Global Inc. and employees, including Cactus Jack general manager David Stromberg. team had not provided the documents.

In response, Scott’s lawyer claimed that the star’s phone fell into the sea two months after the November 5, 2021 tragedy and cannot be retrieved.

According to the transcript of the hearing obtained by Rolling stoneScott’s attorney Steve Brody claimed that one of the plaintiff’s attorneys, Noah Wexler, sent him a draft of the emergency motion last week – before filing an official motion five hours later before he could respond.

The motion through the plaintiff’s attorneys, obtained by the publication, said: ‘Travis Scott and his team are distinguished by the fact that they have not produced any text, WeChat communications, video or photos from their phones – not because they do not exist – but because his lawyers chose not to display or search the court’s order on their phones.’

Brody said Stromberg provided access to his phone records last Wednesday and that he could provide those records by Sept. 27.

In a bizarre twist, Brody then said that Scott’s phone “fell off a boat in January 2022 and landed somewhere at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico and cannot be retrieved.”

The phone story bears a striking similarity to the famous British libel case between Coleen Rooney and Rebekhah Vardy – in a case called ‘Wagatha Christie’.

Vardy’s agent Caroline Watt’s phone was dropped in the North Sea after the court asked for it to be handed over for investigation.

Coleen’s lawyer, Mr Sherborne, said: ‘We know Ms Watt’s phone is now in Davy Jones’ safe, don’t we, Ms Vardy?’ – to which the star replied: ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know who Davy Jones is’.

Brody claimed that Scott had not backed up his phone via iCloud due to “significant hacking concerns” and that the contents of his phone “will not be recoverable” — but “the vast majority, if not all” of the texts Scott with Stromberg related to the festival can be picked up.

According to the transcript, Judge Kristen Hawkins questioned Scott’s attorneys over the phone and said, “From what I’m hearing now, there appears to have been no action taken by Mr. Scott’s legal team to: A. secure and download anything from his phone immediately after an event that killed ten people, or, B, trying to recover text messages from alternate sources when Mr. Scott would have the ability to retrieve that information, possibly from the carrier, or from other sources,” she said.

Brody said the team had tried unsuccessfully to recover the messages from Apple and the cell phone company.

In light of the delay, Scott will have two more days in the first week of October to testify.

Scott’s rep told the publication, “Travis Scott and his team have nothing to hide and are cooperating with all pending civil proceedings.”

“His actions during and after the festival demonstrate that he did nothing wrong, as does the fact that he and his team were exonerated following an investigation by the Houston Police Department.”

Lawyers and others involved in the civil lawsuits are under a gag order, preventing them from saying much more than what happens during court hearings.

“Travis Scott’s statement is typical legal proceedings. What is not typical is the way the media continues to focus on him despite being cleared of any wrongdoing through extensive government investigations, including by the Houston Police Department,” Ted Anastasiou, a spokesman for Scott, said in a statement .

“Travis is fully cooperating with the legal process while remaining committed to his tour in support of his record-breaking album Utopia and his charitable efforts to support at-risk communities.”

After an investigation by Houston police, no charges were filed against Scott following a grand jury in June turned down to charge him and five other people with crimes related to the deadly concert.

Police Chief Troy Finner declined to say what the overall conclusion of his office’s investigation was.

In July the police station made public It is near Research report of 1,300 pages in which festival staff highlighted problems and warned of possible deadly consequences.

According to a summary in the investigative report of a police interview conducted two days after the concert, Scott told investigators that although he saw one person near the stage receiving medical attention, the audience overall seemed to enjoy the show and that he didn’t see it. any signs of serious problems.

This was the first time Scott has been questioned by attorneys for those filing lawsuits since a crowd at his Nov. 5, 2021 concert in Houston left 10 festival-goers dead.

The dead, ranging in age from 9 to 27 years, died of compression asphyxiationwhich one expert compared to being crushed by a car.

Similar crushes have happened all over the world, from a football stadium in England to the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia to Halloween parties in the South Korean capital. Most people who who die in the riots of the crowd, suffocate.

Scott’s statement comes as a judge earlier this year scheduled the first trial of the lawsuits for May 6, 2024. That first trial would take place almost 2.5 years after the deadly concert.

Documents filed with the court in April list more than 1,500 active cases, many of which have been filed against Scott and Live Nation, the concert promoter.

Of these, 992 cases involved physical harm and 313 cases involved ’emotional distress, pain, suffering and mental anguish’. Orthopedic surgeries have been completed in 17 of these cases, while additional surgeries are recommended in another 21.

Some lawsuits have now been arrangedincluding those filed by the families of three of the people killed at the concert.

Scott’s statement came Monday, the same day that hip-hop artist Drake, who performed several songs with Scott at the Astroworld concert, performed in Houston. Drake was also charged in connection with the deadly concert.

Kylie and Travis have two children together: Stormi and Aire.

The billionaire cosmetics mogul is now dating actor Timothee Chalamet.