On Friday (Nov 5), tragedy struck during a Travis Scott performance at the Astroworld Music Festival in Houston, as eight people died and hundreds of others were injured during what officials are calling a “mass casualty event.”
Over the weekend, a conspiracy theory began circulating on social media that the deaths were a result of Scott’s participation in a satanic ritual.
Tragedy Strikes Astroworld
The deaths and injuries occurred as the crowd surged toward the stage, resulting in many concertgoers being trampled. It is still unclear what exactly caused the surge, but apparently panic struck the crowd after several people passed out for unknown reasons.
Houston Chief of Police Troy Finner said in a news conference on Saturday, “This is now a criminal investigation that’s going to involve our homicide division as well as narcotics, and we’re going to get down to the bottom of it.”
The festival had a sold out crowd of 50 thousand attendees.
After the show, several attendees took to social media to wrongfully accuse Scott of callously ignoring the crowd surge. However, as Newsweek has reported, the livestream reveals that Scott stopped several times to call out for help for those in the crowd who were falling unconscious. Scott did not seem to know the full extent of what was happening in the crowd at the time.
RELATED: ‘Is Christian Hip-Hop Dead?’ Reach Records President Lecrae Discusses
Scott’s representatives told Variety that Scott will be refunding all Astroworld tickets, and he has canceled his performance that was set for November 13 in Las Vegas, citing that he is “too distraught to play.”
Satanic Conspiracy Theory Begins Circulating
Over the weekend, a conspiracy theory began to develop that Scott was somehow involved in the tragic deaths of the 8 concertgoers, by way of satanic ritual sacrifice. Some are even arguing that the express purpose of Scott’s performance was human sacrifice.
Those who are circulating this conspiracy theory are quick to point out the occult imagery used in Scott’s latest album and stage design. One person tweeted an image of Scott’s latest album artwork, claiming that he “literally shows himself as a demon in his new album cover…that whole astroworld (sic) was set up as a sacrifice ritual and no one will change my mind about that.”
RELATED: Hundreds of Regular Churchgoers Among QAnon Believers Awaiting JFK Jr.’s Resurrection in Dallas
Elements of Scott’s stage design were also inspired by Hieronymus Bosch’s painting, “Christ in Limbo,” which contains demonic imagery. A tagline of the festival was, “See you on the other side.” Though intended ironically, the phrase has become a tragic reality for some.
