Travis Scott continues to suffer the consequences of the Astroworld Festival tragedy that took place on Friday (November 5). As the lawsuits seemingly multiple by the day, the Houston Rockets postponed “Travis Scott Day” on Wednesday (November 10) when they took on the Detroit Pistons.
Rockets president of business operations Gretchen Sheirr told the Houston Chronicle moving forward with the event “would have been insensitive.”
“After what was a horrific tragedy last week, we felt it would have been insensitive and not the right time for us to move forward,” Sheirr said. “Tonight, we’ll honor victims with a moment of silence to help our community heal.”
Meanwhile, Scott’s 2022 menswear collaboration with luxury clothing brand Dior hangs in the balance. The platinum-selling rapper has been accused of failing to act swiftly enough as the tragedy unfolded before his very eyes. Instead of stopping the performance when he saw an ambulance making its way through the crowd of roughly 50,000, he continued to perform.
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In an interview with Rolling Stone, Reputation Management Consultants chairman Eric Schiffer explained how detrimental Scott’s now-soiled reputation is to the brand.
“It is an apocalyptic marketing turn for that brand,” Schiffer said, “when you double down on this icon to Gen Z that now has effectively detonated in your face.”
The collaboration, dubbed the Cactus Jack Dior line, has likely already been manufactured and is ready to go. Fashion expert Thomaï Serdari, who’s also a marketing professor at NYU Stern School of Business, believes Dior should eat the costs and refrain from moving forward with the Travis Scott drop.
“I think that could happen,” she said. “And I wouldn’t be surprised. This is about social responsibility and respect to the audience.”
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But experts say there’s another option. Instead of pulling the collaboration completely, Dior could add a “charity component” to its line.
“If the line has already shipped and it’s too late to stop it, I’d make a significant contribution on every product sold that goes to [Astroworld] victims,” an anonymous music-marketing insider said. “But do you really want to come out and promote a clothing line on Travis Scott in the next three months?
“You’re going to get [destroyed]. You’re going to get the letters from the Christian right. The media’s gonna be all over you. You’re gonna need crisis management, damage control.”
Astroworld Attendee Injured During Travis Scott's Performance Declared Brain Dead
Eight people were killed and over 300 injured during the incident. Another woman, 22-year-olde Texas A&M University senior Bharti Shahani, has been declared brain dead and isn’t expected to survive, while a 9-year-old injured at the show remains in a medically-induced coma.
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Harris County released the names of all eight victims on Monday (November 8): Mirza Baig, 27, Rodolfo Peña, 23, Madison Dubiski, 23, Franco Patiño, 21, Jacob Jurinke, 20, John Hilgert, 14, Axel Acosta Avila, 21, and Brianna Rodriguez, 16.
Scott maintains he didn’t realize the “severity” of the situation and has offered to cover the funeral costs for the deceased as well as provide mental health counseling for anyone in need.
