Kylie Jenner has sparked backlash online after the reality star shared a video of Travis Scott backstage at London’s O2 arena, the rapper’s first solo performance since the Astroworld tragedy last November which killed 10 attendees.
On 6 August, the Kylie Cosmetics founder joined Scott – along with their daughter Stormi – in London to support the rapper at his first international concert since the festival. Jenner, 24, shared several photos and videos from the show to social media, including one video which featured Scott celebrating the sold-out show backstage.
In the clip filmed by Jenner, the 31-year-old rapper is seen “raging” backstage and banging on a door as his entourage sprays him with champagne. Scott’s fans are affectionately known as “ragers,” and he previously talked about the meaning behind raging in a 2015 GQ video titled: “How to Rage with Travis Scott”.
Scott’s friends, including basketball player James Harden, are seen yelling “Biggest in the world” while Jenner laughs behind the camera. The Kardashians star shared the video in a carousel post on Instagram, but has since deleted the video from her TikTok page.
Before the clip was deleted, it received much negative reaction online. Fans slammed Scott’s “raging” behaviour in the wake of the Astroworld tragedy. Over on the r/KUWTK Reddit forum, some users claimed Jenner’s video was “tone-deaf” and “insensitive” towards the families of the Astroworld victims.
“This is soooo insensitive to the lives lost at his festival,” wrote one user. “It shows that he thinks super highly of himself and looks pretty aggressive and self consumed. Like who does this? Especially this being his first big solo performance since you’d think he’ll be a lot more humble and self reflective…”
“It’s so tonedeaf,” another user said. “Even if you’re one of those people that’s convinced he’s innocent, who does this given the circumstances? Not only is there Astroworld but there’s all the chaos he’s incited that’s led to people getting hurt at other shows.”
One person commented, “Has astroworld taught him nothing?” while another Redditor wrote: “No respect for the victims of Astroworld at all, this isn’t cute it’s actually sickening.”
Ten people between the ages of nine and 27 died at Travis Scott’s two-day Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas following a “crowd surge” towards the stage while the rapper was performing. At least 50,000 people gathered for the third annual event on 5 November at the site of the former Houston Six Flags park.
Following the tragedy, a lawsuit was filed against Scott and Live Entertainment for $2bn that represents nearly 280 alleged victims. The rapper has since issued a “general denial” to the lawsuit and Scott’s lawyer has suggested the rapper was unaware of what was happening during his performance.
Although Scott offered to pay the funeral costs for the families whose loved ones died at Astroworld, his offer was rejected by the families of five Astroworld victims.
Travis Scott’s solo concert at London’s O2 arena on Saturday marked one of his first major headline performances since the festival.
