Travis Scott might be slowly returning from his self-imposed exile to headline festivals again this year, but fans don’t seem apt to let him forget about the disaster at his own Astroworld Festival which prompted him to go on hiatus in the first place.
Case in point: Travis and Kylie Jenner have come under fire for the decorations for their one-year-old son Aire’s birthday day, which were inspired by the massive inflatable head from the festival. The festival’s decorations were, of course, inspired by Travis’ third studio album, also called Astroworld and named after a defunct theme park in his hometown, Houston.
As he told GQ in 2017, “They tore down AstroWorld to build more apartment space… We want it back. We want the building back. That’s why I’m doing it. It took the fun out of the city.”
Observers on social media are calling out the Astroworld-themed celebration for “mocking” the victims of the doomed 2021 festival, during which a crowd crush caused 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries. Travis is still facing a massive wrongful death/injury lawsuit combining over 1,000 cases, and some survivors have criticized his efforts to make amends.
Kylie Jenner is being criticized for having an ‘Astroworld’ themed birthday party for her son Aire.
Fans call the decorations used “tasteless” for the victims of the fatal crowd crush at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival. pic.twitter.com/SkZ4tF8g6Z
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) February 2, 2023
Kinda in bad taste for Kylie to decorate her kids birthday party like Astroworld considering what happened
— Al (@alliekahlke) February 2, 2023
Kylie Jennef still doing Astroworld themed parties after what happened in Astroworld is disgusting. A 9-years-old kid died there, please.
— alessandra but not ambrosio (@sallioaux) February 2, 2023
kylie using astroworld branding for her children’s birthday party is a bit scary to me
— j (@gucciandior) February 1, 2023
I honestly try not to give a shit about celebrity news bc it’s not like celebrities give a shit about me lmao but Kylie Jenner naming her son a variation of “air” after 10 people tragically died of asphyxiation at Astroworld is wild to me. I am bewildered. Damn.
— dom the goblin (@potato_meringue) January 23, 2023
However, some fans are defending the couple, pointing out that they’ve used similar theming for their six-year-old daughter Stormi’s parties in the past and arguing that the decorations are a reference to the album, not the festival.
one thing travis scott gon do is have an astroworld theme birthday party for his kids
— Lani (@hoeshatelanii) February 2, 2023
stormi’s parties always look so cool and I love how kylie sticks to that stormiworld thingy
— Tenbe$t (@t_tenbest) February 1, 2023
this is annoying because stormis birthday was astroworld themed too
— (@JAYDAAAMAIN) February 2, 2023
Broooooo they do this EVERY YEAR for their kids themed birthday parties! Y’all reaching its so funny lol wait until the ACTUAL ASTROWORLD FESTIVAL come back this November, have your signs ready I’m going ! https://t.co/wEDy5bY9IW
— Chandlar W. Bloom (@King_Capton) February 2, 2023
Stormi had the Astroworld birthday party first before the sad event took place..
I think them re-using party decorations is honestly the most normal thing they have done https://t.co/ZHRakdCI9Q pic.twitter.com/7p9Q1Nh90X
— Paigey (@PaigeChristieUK) February 2, 2023