For many, concerts and festivals are a means of having fun and seeing favorite artists live and in-person. The Astroworld music festival opened for the first time since the pandemic started, and many were expecting to have fun. On November 11th, 2021 the tragic news of nine reported dead and hundreds injured at the concert came out and surprised the world.

What is Astroworld?

Astroworld is a rap album by Travis Scott and a music festival in Houston, Texas. The inspiration behind the festival is a former amusement park Scott visited as a child. According to a press release by Scott’s team, Astroworld is designed to “bring back the beloved spirit and nostalgia of the legendary and now-defunct amusement park.”

The festival began calmly with many excited to listen to their favorite artists live. With little regard for COVID and CDC guidelines, the concert operated at 100% capacity with no masks. According to usatoday.com, there were around 50,000 people in attendance at the festival. According to thenationalnews.com, “[there is] video footage [showing] crowds of festival-goers bypassing security, rushing into the venue, hopping turnstiles and knocking down security barriers. It is thought that much of the crowd entered the grounds without tickets.” Additionally, no seating was available and fans began to fervently rush towards the stage area. The combination of too many people and not enough security and paramedics proved to be overwhelming—the unexpected torrent of the crowd led to people getting trampled, squished, and shoved by their fellow fans. 

Despite these dangers and safety concerns, Scott did not stop performing despite audibly acknowledging the presence of an ambulance (CNN) and being told by multiple people to stop the show. In fact, Scott told the crowd that they knew what “[they] came here to do” and to “rage.” A girl jumped on the stage to inform the cameraman and security that “people are dying” and was begging them to stop the show (upworthy.com). Despite her pleas and the screams for help from the crowd, she wrote on her Instagram (@seannafaith) that a man threatened he would “push [her] off the 15ft platform with no sides if [she] didn’t get down.”

Travis Scott has professed ignorance to the world on his Twitter and Instagram, and issued what he seems to think is an apology, even though it was obviously manufactured by his PR team. Let’s not forget his history of recklessness with his fans and criminal history dating back to 2015, when he encouraged his fans to “rush the stage” (Insider). Or that time when he spit on a teenage fan at a concert and was encouraging the crowd to “f-ck him up” when said fan stole his shoe while Scott was dangerously crowd surfing (meaww.com). So Travis Scott can stop an entire concert when he loses his shoe (which I am sure he can buy thousands more of), incite violence against a teenager, and encourage a crowd to attack the teen but cannot stop a concert when thousands of people are screaming for help? Many on social media are saying that he deserves manslaughter charges, and should pay for the medical bills of all the injured fans and the funerals of all of the fans who lost their lives. I couldn’t agree more. He deserves every lawsuit that comes his way as a result of this tragedy. 

Nine people are reportedly dead and die-hard Travis Scott fans are insensitive enough to compare his concert to Ariana Grande’s Manchester Concert, which was attacked by terrorists who released a suicide bomb. It is beyond me how anyone could possibly compare a terrorist attack on a concert (which was completely out of Grande’s control) to Scott inciting chaos at his concert, ignoring security and screams for help. Scott could have exerted control over the disastrous situation which took place at his concert, but he chose not to. 

Conspiracy theories about the concert being a ritual or demonic sacrifice have spread throughout social media. Fuel has been added due to imagery of a dove being on fire at the concert and Scott wearing a shirt stating “see you on the other side” that depicts people walking through a doorway and leaving with devil horns. Please show respect for the victims and others who were impacted by the concert. People have died, families are in mourning, and thousands are suffering from psychological issues as well as physical injuries due to the concert. Conspiracy theories are no help during this time. 

Don’t even get me started on Kylie Jenner, Scott’s famous girlfriend who was in attendance at the concert. Jenner attended the concert with her sister, Kendall Jenner, and daughter which she shares with Scott, Stormi. From her VIP box, she infamously posted an Instagram story of the concert with the paramedics in full view. I don’t know how anyone could see a paramedic truck working its way through a crowd and not instantly be alarmed. I don’t know how she couldn’t hear the screams and chants of “stop the show” and continue to think that nothing was wrong. In her PR manufactured “apology” she claimed ignorance similar to Scott, yet was escorted from the concert early with her famous entourage (thenews.com). She reportedly “walked past bodies and people getting CPR.” Many of her fans are defending her lack of action due to the fact that she is pregnant. In response to that argument, being pregnant does not addle your brain or your senses. No one expects KYLIE JENNER to work her way through a massive crowd and pick up people that are being trampled, much less while being pregnant. What Kylie Jenner could have done while perched in her VIP box, was call for help or call for Travis’ team upon hearing the crowd’s screams and chants to stop the show. She chose not to. What she chose to do was proclaim innocence in her “apology,” act like she wasn’t escorted from the concert early due to the danger, and didn’t film a paramedic truck on her Instagram Story. 

In light of these obvious wrongs by these celebrities, the only sound advice is to stop supporting them. Stop buying Kylie Cosmetics. Don’t listen to Travis Scott on Spotify, don’t buy his merch, and DEFINITELY don’t go to his concerts! We are the ones who are lining their pockets. The ultra wealthy usually start from humble beginnings like Travis once did (he was not born into a rich or famous family), but forget where they came from. As evidenced from his “apology,” he is so detached from this all. Many celebrities such as Kylie and Travis don’t care about their fans. With our materialistic society, a celebrity life means more than anyone else’s. Just look at the countless headlines about this tragedy. All of them talk about how “pregnant Kylie Jenner” is uninjured and mention the tragedy at the concert like an afterthought. Of course she’s uninjured. Do you honestly think that she would be in the crowd? She was in a VIP section with the rest of her famous entourage. But the priority will always be caring about the well-being of the rich, regardless of whether or not they are pregnant. Nothing is worth dying over, especially getting to meet a celebrity who does not even know your name. The extreme idolization of these celebrities will only do you harm at best, and cost you your life, at worst. 

For now, we can only pray that the victims of the concerts and the families of those who were lost begin to find healing. May all of those who lost their lives rest in peace.