Travis Scott will no longer be performing at Coachella despite offers to play for free.
The rapper was announced as the headlining act for the event nearly two years ago but recent developments following the tragic Astroworld festival, which left 10 dead and multiple people injured during a crowd surge, resulted in him being cut from the lineup.
KESQ was first to report the development, noting that a petition to have Scott removed from Coachella put the wheels in motion. As of Wednesday morning, the petition has gained over 62,000 signatures.
Insiders have since revealed to Variety that the festival informed Scott’s longtime agent Cara Lewis of its intent to remove Scott from the bill. Scott allegedly tried to maintain his spot by offering to play for free. The festival meanwhile is reportedly willing to pay a 25% cancellation fee.
Scott has expressed remorse following the Astroworld festival and offered to pay for the funeral costs of the victims and canceled other upcoming concert appearances out of respect for the victims, but this has not stopped the backlash.
With pressure mounting, Nike postponed the launch of the Air Max 1 X Cactus Jack, which was a collaboration with Scott, "out of respect for everyone impacted by the tragic events at the Astroworld Festival," the company said. Then news broke that Scott's spiked seltzer was being discontinued as well.
"After careful evaluation, we have decided to stop all production and brand development of CACTI Agave Spiked Seltzer. We believe brand fans will understand and respect this decision," an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson said in a statement to CNN Business.
Scott broke his silence last week during his first interview since the Astroworld incident, explaining to Charlamagne tha God that he was unaware that festival-goers had been hurt until hours after the event and denied any wrongdoing. He did however admit to feeling a sense of responsibility to find out what had transpired that fateful day.
"I have a responsibility to figure out what happened here. I have a responsibility to figure out the solution," he said. "At the end of the day, collectively, everyone just needs to figure out the bottom-line solution."