Family of Astroworld Victim Criticizes Kanye's 'Idiotic' Demand for Billie Eilish to Apologize to Travis Scott

Kanye said he won't perform at Coachella unless Billie Eilish apologizes to Travis Scott, and the family of one Astroworld Festival victim isn't happy about it.

Ye attends the Kenzo Fall/Winter 2022/2023 show as part of Paris Fashion Week
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Image via Getty/Stephane Cardinale - Corbis

Ye attends the Kenzo Fall/Winter 2022/2023 show as part of Paris Fashion Week

After Kanye West said he won’t perform at Coachella until Billie Eilish apologizes to Travis Scott, the grandparents of Astroworld Festival crowd crush victim Ezra Blount have harshly criticized Ye for his “hurtful” and “ridiculous” demand.

During a recent show in Atlanta, Billie stopped for a moment to provide  help to a distressed fan in the audience. Eilish asked if they needed an inhaler, requested her crew to come to help, and told her fans to give the fan space. “Give her some time. Don’t crowd,” she said. “I wait for people to be OK until I keep going.”

Some outlets, including TMZ, interpreted her comments as a diss at Travis. Kanye also perceived the moment as shade thrown, and asked Billie to apologize to his frequent collaborator, threatening not to play at Coachella otherwise. Ye’s demands have drawn ire from those personally impacted by the Astroworld Festival crowd crush, which left 10 attendees dead and over 300 injured.

“To hear Kanye’s words, that’s hurtful to us. What an idiotic thing to say,” Bernon Blount, the grandfather of 9-year-old victim Ezra Blount, told Rolling Stone

Grandmother Tericia Blount added, “I think it’s just crazy, and I hate to use that word, but I think it’s ridiculous. 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 said that it’s inconceivable Kanye would want “someone to apologize for putting the welfare of someone else before their profits.” Bernon said if Billie Eilish did not stop her show, the fan could’ve been seriously injured or even died.

“I totally commend Billie Eilish for having that decency about her,” said Terecia. “I think what she did was wonderful, and I would love to tell her myself how brilliant and awesome she is for doing so.”

In his post on the matter on Instagram, Kanye shared an image of the TMZ headline. “Come on Billie we love you please apologize to Trav and to the families of the people who lost their lives no one intended this to happen Trav didn’t have any idea of what was happening when he was on stage and was very hurt by what happened,” he wrote in all-caps. “Yes Trav will be with me at Coachella but now I need Billie to apologize before I perform.”

Eilish, in a comment on the post, pointed out that she didn’t even mention Travis Scott in the video. “Literally never said a thing about Travis,” she wrote. “Was just helping a fan.”

The family’s criticism of Kanye comes not long after he pushed back against a “dismissive” claim about his mental health, in which he took issue with being labeled “crazy.” 

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