Travis Scott's Nike sneaker launch postponed following Astroworld tragedy
The rapper's Astroworld Festival left 10 dead and injured hundreds more
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Travis Scott's upcoming collaboration with sneaker giant Nike has been postponed.
"Out of respect for everyone impacted by the tragic events at the Astroworld Festival, we are postponing the launch of the Air Max 1 x Cactus Jack," a statement on Nike's SNKRS app reads.
According to Complex, the rapper's collaboration included two new sneaker designs that were scheduled to be released on Dec. 16.
ASTROWORLD TRAGEDY HIGHLIGHTS LIVE NATION'S LAWSUIT-RIDDEN HISTORY
The Air Max 1 x Cactus Jack launch was not the first project Scott has worked on with Nike. The outlet reports that Scott first joined forces with Nike in 2017 with the Air Force 1.
A general view of the atmosphere during Travis Scott's second annual Astroworld Festival at NRG Park on November 9, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Gary Miller / Getty Images)
Scott's highly-anticipated Astroworld Festival, which began on Nov. 5, ended in tragedy when 10 people died and hundreds more were injured following a reported crowd surge.
Authorities have said 50,000 people attended the event in Houston, Texas. Over 300 people were treated at a field hospital on-site at NRG Park, and at least 13 were later hospitalized after a crowd surge. The 10 confirmed dead ranged in age from 9 to 27.
"Heartbroken for those lost and impacted at Astroworld tonight," Live Nation, an entertainment company that organized the event at Astroworld, said in a Nov. 6 tweet. "We will continue to provide as much information and assistance as possible to the local authorities as they investigate the situation."
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In a Nov. 8 joint update, Live Nation, Astroworld and Texas-based nonprofit ScoreMore, which owns the Astroworld venue, said the three entities behind the concert have been cooperating with law enforcement to assist in their investigation.
"Our staff has met with local authorities to provide information, and we have also provided them with all footage from our CCTV cameras," the companies said in the statement, adding that customers will be given full refunds for their tickets and those injured will have medical expenses covered.
Travis Scott's upcoming sneaker launch with Nike has been postponed in the wake of the Astroworld tragedy. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP / AP Images)
Although the investigations have just begun, more than a dozen lawsuits have been filed so far against Scott, Live Nation and ScoreMore. The complaints allege that organizers failed to take simple crowd-control steps, to staff properly and to act on early signs of trouble at the sold-out concert.
Experts expect dozens of lawsuits seeking damages that could climb into hundreds of millions of dollars.
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The Houston tragedy comes nearly two years after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down group events, including concerts. In August 2020, the publicly-traded company reported a $588.1 million loss in its second quarter. Revenue for three months – ending in June 30 – totaled only $74.1 million, marking a shocking 97% drop from the same time in 2019.
A pedestrian crosses Main Street in front of a sign announcing the cancellation of Astroworld on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, in Houston. Several people died and numerous others were injured in what officials described as a surge of the crowd at the music (Michael Wyke / AP Images)
About a year later, during the summer of 2021, Live Nation began promoting more concerts and revenue picked back up.
Representatives for Scott did not immediately return Fox Business' request for comment about the postponement of his Nike collab.
The rapper is still "actively exploring routes of communication" with families affected by the tragedy, a statement from his reps obtained by Fox News on Thursday said.
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"Over the last week, Travis Scott and his team have been actively exploring routes of connection with each and every family affected by the tragedy through the appropriate liaisons," the statement continued. "He is distraught by the situation and desperately wishes to share his condolences and provide aid to them as soon as possible, but wants to remain respectful of each family’s wishes on how they’d best like to be connected."
"To those families who would like to reach out directly to his team, please send an email to the below address where we will have a team on hand to assist," the statement continued before adding the address, AW21information@gmail.com.
FOX Business' Jessica Napoli, Andrew Craft, Tyler McCarthy and The Associated Press contributed to this report.