Astroworld victim’s family criticise Kanye West over “hurtful” comments towards Billie Eilish
The family of the youngest Astroworld victim has criticised Kanye West over his “hurtful” comments towards Billie Eilish.
West took to Instagram last night (February 10) to ask Eilish to “apologise” to Travis Scott while sharing a screenshot of an article that accused her of “dissing” the latter artist at one of her recent shows.
The news story in question referenced a comment that the ‘Happier Than Ever’ pop star made at a concert in Atlanta, Georgia, which saw an audience member suffer a medical emergency.
Eilish halted her performance so that the fan could access an inhaler. “Can we just grab one?” she asked a crew member. Another clip saw Eilish being met with cheers after saying: “I wait for people to be OK until I keep going.”
Her second remark has been interpreted by some to be a subtle criticism towards Scott, whose Astroworld 2021 headline show resulted in a fatal crowd crush that killed 10 fans and injured hundreds.
West, who is headlining Coachella alongside Eilish and Harry Styles in April, wrote yesterday: “Come on Billie we love you please apologise to Trav and to the families of the people who lost their lives.
“Trav will be with me at Coachella but now I need Billie to apologise before I perform.”
Responding later in the comments section, Eilish said that she “literally never said a thing about Travis”.
Now, as Rolling Stone reports, the grandparents of nine-year-old Ezra Blount – who died as a result of suffering critical injuries at Astroworld – have hit out at West’s insensitive Instagram post.
“To hear Kanye’s words, that’s hurtful to us. What an idiotic thing to say,” Ezra’s grandfather Bernon Blount told the outlet.
The young victim’s grandmother, Tericia Blount, said that West should instead be praising Eilish for her efforts to assist a fan who was struggling to breathe.
“I think it’s just crazy, and I hate to use that word, but I think it’s ridiculous,” she said of the rapper’s criticism of the singer.
“She’s making sure that she is caring for the patrons at her concert, and I just think that’s crazy of Kanye to even let that demand come out of his mouth.”
Bernon added: “That’s crazy that he wants someone to apologise for putting the welfare of someone else before their profits. That’s someone who needed their asthma pump. They could have lost their life, right then. This world is twisted, and we have to stop doing this.”
Tericia said she “totally commends” Eilish for having to “decency” to step in, adding: “I think what she did was wonderful, and I would love to tell her myself how brilliant and awesome she is for doing so.”
Earlier this month, it was reported that hundreds of lawsuits filed against Travis Scott and Live Nation over the Astroworld tragedy are moving forward as one case.
A new website was also recently set up by the FBI asking attendees to submit photos and videos taken during the event.
Last December, Coachella reportedly dropped Travis Scott as one of its 2022 headliners in the wake of the Astroworld incident.
