While the Billboard Music Awards’ announcement of Travis Scott’s return as a performer came as a shock to some, for others it signaled the next phase in his ongoing comeback after the Astroworld Festival disaster. However, as Travis and Live Nation are still entangled in a deluge of lawsuits stemming from the many, many injuries and ten deaths at Astroworld, it appears Travis needed an outside advocate to fight for him to perform at this year’s BBMAs.
Enter: Sean “Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Brother Love” Combs. In a video posted to Instagram, the veteran hitmaker made it clear that he deserves the credit (or the blame, depending on where you stand) for Travis Scott’s impending redemption. It seems Diddy gave the show’s producers an ultimatum:” For the Billboard Music Awards this Sunday I made a request, I made a demand,” he said. “I said ‘My brother Travis Scott has to perform. I’m executive producing, he has to perform,’ and NBC said ‘yes.’”
Diddy continued to boast in a separate interview with REVOLT Black News (which, you may recall, he owns). “I am uncanceling the canceled,” he declared. “There will be no canceling on my watch. Love is about forgiveness… so that was why it was important for me to have Travis Scott perform. It’s going to be a great night.”
While forgiveness is an admirable goal, there are some who don’t feel it’s Diddy’s or anyone else’s place to offer that. Those people include Bernon and Tericia Blount, the grandparents of Ezra Blount, the youngest Astroworld victim at nine years old. The Blounts previously condemned one of Travis’ efforts to make amends, calling it a PR stunt, and nearly 3,000 victims have lawsuits against the rapper and Astroworld’s promotion company, Live Nation. Those suits have been combined into a single case, which has yet to be tried.