It’s been just over a month since tragedy struck Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas, resulting in 10 deaths… and since then, Scott’s career and reputation have certainly suffered.
Videos by American Songwriter
To begin with, there were immediate reactions—many brands and sponsors ended their partnerships with the 30-year-old rapper. Epic Games removed the “Travis Scott emote” from their massive online game, Fortnite; Parsons School of Design pulled out of their contract with Scott’s Cactus Jack Design Center; Nike postponed Air Max 1 x Cactus Jack collaboration; the list goes on.
But now, two more consequences are being added: over the weekend, it was reported that Scott had been effectively removed from the 2022 Coachella lineup (which he was slated to headline) and Anheuser-Busch will no longer be producing his hard seltzer brand, Cacti.
The Coachella news came via a report from Variety, which stated that the festival alerted Scott’s agent, Cara Lewis, of “its intent to pull Scott from the bill.” Evidently, the festival offered him, in return, a “kill fee for the cancellation,” which would’ve been 25% of his promised pay—Consequence of Sound reported that Scott’s team offered to do the festival for free, but were turned down.
This is a bit of a blow for Scott—the Saturday night headline performance (which was originally announced in 2020) was poised to be his return to live performances. Now, another act will likely be announced to replace him, joining Rage Against The Machine and Swedish House Mafia at the top of the bill.
The Cacti discontinuation, on the other hand, was described as a mutual decision by a spokesperson for Scott. “Cacti asked AB InBev to inform their wholesalers there will not be product at this time,” the representative told Pitchfork, after describing Scott’s intention to focus less on business and more on “helping his community and fans heal.”
All of this news comes just days after Scott’s first official interview since the incident—sitting down with Charlamagne tha God, he opened up about his side of the story and his perspective on recent events. Read more coverage about that interview HERE and more coverage on Travis Scott in general HERE.
