Entertainment
Can Travis Scott’s career and reputation ever recover from Astroworld tragedy?
Scott is at the centre of controversy following the Astroworld incident (Picture: Getty – PA)
Travis Scott’s career has temporarily ground to a halt following the tragic events at his music festival Astroworld, where eight people died in a horrific stampede.
The Highest In The Room hitmaker cancelled a performance in Las Vegas this week and it’s not known when he’ll return to the stage.
Eight people died at Astroworld last Friday, the festival which Live Nation launched in 2018 to support the release of the rapper’s chart-topping album of the same name.
Among those who were killed in the crush were a 14-year-old boy, identified as John Gilbert, and Danish Baig, who died trying to save his fiancee.
Scott’s girlfriend Kylie Jenner has stated he was unaware of what was happening until after he had left the stage, but his name has now become synonymous with the festival he launched.
As the fallout from the tragic events continues to unfold, the questions remains: will Scott’s career ever be able to recover from the incident?
Paul MacKenzie-Cummins, founder and managing director at reputation management and PR agency, Clearly, told Metro.co.uk: ‘Travis Scott is arguably one of the most powerful and influential figures in pop culture right now. But the tragedy in Texas had a sense of inevitability about it,’ in reference to Scott’s past controversial concerts.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
The expert continued: ‘Commercially, this will come at a cost to Scott. His endorsements with Nike, Anheuser-Busch, and McDonalds amount to a reported $10million (£7.3m) a year and these brands [could] sever all ties with him.
‘Astroworld itself, which was co-founded by Scott, should be disbanded, while the number of lawsuits against Scott and his team will likely escalate in the coming weeks. Collectively, Scott could see losses of tens of millions as a direct consequence of last week’s terrible events.’
So far, Scott has been the subject of several lawsuits following the events of Astroworld alongside Live Nation and rapper Drake, who briefly appeared as a guest during Scott’s performance.
It’s possible that Scott will avoid returning to the stage anytime soon given the sensitivity around his performances and the large crowds they attract. There is also reportedly a petition to have the rapper removed from Coachella’s 2022 line-up.
A huge crowd surge caused a crush (Picture: @ONACASELLA via REUTERS)
Media management consultant Lauren Lunn Farrow feels Scott is ‘too much of a risk’ to be booked at festivals and live music events for the time being despite there being no suggestion he incited the stampede.
‘This is harrowing. It is one of the deadliest live events in US history,’ Farrow said.
She continued: ‘This is not a case of cancel culture – this is a case of young lives being lost at what should have been a fun day out seeing their favourite music artist perform.
‘Crowds should always have guaranteed safety when watching a music artist perform. Organisers and live agents for Travis would have known that Travis has a young fan base, therefore extra security should be in place to avoid and protect anything like this happening.
‘This was his own festival so financially this will impact him across the board.’
Scott’s live music career hangs in the balance (Picture: WireImage)
However, pop culture expert Nick Ede weighed in: ‘I think that it’s a lot to do with the festival infrastructure rather than the actual talent performing – if it were another performer there would always be a risk of this kind of thing happening.
‘You can see on social media stars like Adele, Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish all stopping concerts to make sure people are OK. He [could] now be an insurance risk and I doubt he will be booked for a very long time.’
MacKenzie Cummins is confident that Scott can recover his reputation eventually, stating: ‘Yes, but so far his team’s handling of the situation has been a PR disaster.
‘Reportedly deleting historical social media posts that could tarnish Scott’s reputation even further only adds fuel to the fire. But when coupled with the video he posted on Saturday night, the self-inflicted damage is only worsening.’
More: US Showbiz news
Ede suggested: ‘I think this will be a long process and he should concentrate on the families and those affected by the tragic impact of what happened.
‘This will take years to repair both for himself but for all those involved this is something that will have a lasting impact on so many people for a very long time.’
Scott has spoken out about the incident twice; first in a statement and again in an emotional video where he expressed his ‘devastation’ and that he could ‘never imagine the severity of the situation’. He’s since offered to pay for the funerals of the victims.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.