Travis Scott Dropped From Coachella Lineup
Last week, in the same interview where he essentially denied any responsibility for the Astroworld Festival crowd crush that killed 10 people and injured hundreds more, Travis Scott claimed that he intends to continue performing. But Scott’s return to the stage won’t take the form that he wanted. According to Variety, Travis Scott will not headline next year’s Coachella.
Two years ago, Scott was announced as one of the headliners of the 2020 Coachella festival. Scott was set to share headlining duties with Rage Against The Machine and Frank Ocean, but the pandemic forced the cancellation of that festival. Next spring, Coachella will return with its first festival since 2019. Back in August, Goldenvoice president Paul Tollett told The Los Angeles Times that all three planned 2020 headliners would still headline Coachella — Travis Scott and Rage Against The Machine in 2022, Frank Ocean in 2023. But in the wake of all those deaths and injuries at Astroworld, sources have told Variety that Travis Scott has been dropped from the bill.
According to Variety, Travis Scott’s agent Cara Lewis was trying to keep Scott in the headlining spot, giving him a huge platform for his return to live performance. Instead, it appears that Coachella will pay Scott a kill fee, which will probably be 25% of what he would’ve been paid.
Right now, Coachella only has one headliner, Rage Against The Machine, announced for next year’s festival. The reunited Swedish House Mafia also announced that they’ll play next year’s Coachella, and they might also be a headliner. Travis Scott, meanwhile, will presumably not perform at any festivals anytime soon.
In other Travis Scott news, AdAge reports that Anheiser-Busch has discontinued Cacti, its line of Travis Scott-branded hard seltzer, after Astroworld. Sources close to Travis Scott tell TMZ that the decision to shut down Cacti was “mutual” between Scott and Anheiser-Busch and that the brand isn’t really discontinued. Instead, they claim that it’s on “more of a temporary hold with hopes of bringing the beverage back in the future.” But the company has officially announced that it has “decided to stop all production and brand development of Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer. We believe brand fans will understand and respect this decision.”