Travis Scott Suffers Another Massive Blow To His Career
Travis Scott's career isn't looking up after his Houston Astroworld festival ended in tragedy. The festival turned deadly when the packed crowd of 50,000 fans began pushing to dangerous levels, causing some to fall to the ground and be trampled. Hundreds of fans left the event injured and 10 were killed, according to USA Today. Some were quick to pin blame on Scott. In response, his lawyer Daniel Petrocelli wrote, per AP News, "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."
As Scott attempts to reconcile, some families of the victims have little interest in the rapper's attempt to meet with them in their time of grief. "I have no doubt Mr. Scott feels remorse," said attorney to the family of nine-year-old Ezra Blount, who died at the event, per Rolling Stone. "He must face and hopefully see that he bears some of the responsibility for this tragedy. ... 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." The rapper faces dozens of lawsuits from attendees of Astroworld, blaming Scott and Live Nation Entertainment, including one lawsuit seeking over $750 million from responsible parties, according to NBC News.
While Scott deals with the legal ramifications of his concert, the rapper is simultaneously losing some big deals taking massive blows to his career.
Travis Scott won't be headlining Coachella in 2022
Travis Scott's career blowouts began when Nike paused the release of the rapper's Air Max 1 x Cactus Jack sneaker collaboration just before their mid-December release "out of respect for everyone impacted by the tragic events at the Astroworld Festival," according to a company statement. Shortly after, W Magazine pulled Scott, Kylie Jenner, and their daughter Stormi from their cover, citing the "inappropriate" timing of the photos, according to Page Six.
Scott's Cacti hard seltzer line was then discontinued after just a few months by parent company Anheuser-Busch. "After careful evaluation, we have decided to stop all production and brand development of CACTI Agave Spiked Seltzer," the company said in a statement, per AdAge. "We believe brand fans will understand and respect this decision."
It seems that people understood — and some even went a step further. 60,000 people signed a petition asking the 2022 Coachella Music and Arts festival to remove Scott from their lineup, and the festival did just that, according to a Deadline report. The "SickoMode" rapper was originally slated for the 2020 festival, which was postponed due to COVID-19. Scott will reportedly receive a kill fee for his removal.