Hulu pulls ‘Astroworld: Concert From Hell’ special after confused viewers protest
Hulu has pulled a 50-minute news special titled “Astroworld: Concert From Hell” after an online backlash suggested viewers thought it was a documentary produced by the streamer.
“Astroworld: Concert From Hell” became available Wednesday on Hulu, though the investigative local-news special out of Houston originally aired Nov. 20 in Texas. It was presented as the first episode of a series, which added to the confusion.
Some Hulu users were confused and upset by the offering, which appeared less than a month after the concert tragedy that to this point has led to 10 deaths, including that of 9-year-old Ezra Blount, who died Nov. 14.
Blount was buried the Tuesday before Thanksgiving after apparently being trampled in a prolonged Nov. 5 crowd crush during rapper Travis Scott’s headliner set.
Houston’s long-razed AstroWorld theme park brought joy to people from across the city. Decades later, Astroworld the festival is inextricably linked to heartbreak.
“Hulu really moved fast as hell to make a documentary and named it Astroworld: Concert from Hell. I am crying at everyone trying to make their profit from that event,” Rise Nation esports player Jonathan “Pacman” Tucker tweeted Wednesday.
“Hulu making a documentary about Astroworld is in poor taste all around. People are still burying their loved ones,” another Twitter user said in a post that was retweeted nearly 4,500 times. “The legal cases haven’t even started. Great documentaries are done when all the facts are laid out. Not enough time has passed to fully discuss this.”
“The Astroworld: Concert from Hell doc on Hulu puts blame on concert goers ‘not caring’-no type of structural analysis & they didnt interview the RN who said medics there were undertrained, under staffed & HPD was useless. S— seemed directed by Live Nation/Travis Scott himself,” a third commenter posted.
A day after the funeral for 9-year-old Astroworld victim Ezra Blount, rapper Travis Scott offered to cover the costs. Blount’s family declined his offer.
The Times confirmed that Hulu removed “Astroworld: Concert From Hell” shortly after the controversy. KTRK-TV, the Houston station that originally aired the special, is owned and operated by the ABC network; ABC and Hulu are both owned by Disney, and Hulu streams ABC programs.
Scott’s offer to pay funeral costs was rejected recently by the Blount family, and other Astroworld victims’ families have done the same.
The Blounts are among more than a dozen parties who have filed lawsuits against Scott, who has been widely criticized for continuing his performance for 40 minutes after authorities declared a “mass casualty event.”
Authorities continue to investigate the deadly crowd surge at the Astroworld Festival as lawsuits against Travis Scott and Live Nation pile up.
Others named in various lawsuits are the promoters of the two-day festival, guest performer Drake and other companies that provided security and medical services for Astroworld.
Scott quickly canceled the second day of the festival, pulled out of the Day N Vegas festival in Las Vegas and offered to refund all Astroworld ticket fees.
“Astroworld: Concert From Hell” can still be viewed on KTRK’s website.
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