Travis Scott has effectively been removed from the list of performances for the 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Variety has learned.
The development follows a KESQ report in Palm Springs that reported the controversial rapper was removed from the bill following the tragedy that occurred at his own Astroworld festival in November, where 10 people were killed after crowds swept through his performance. as the headliner. A petition on Change.org was started in the days after the tragedy, demanding his removal from the Coachella lineup. The petition has gathered nearly 60,000 signatures as of this writing.
Representatives for the artist, the festival and the city of Indio, California, where it takes place, have not confirmed the KESQ report; Variety has reached out to Goldenvoice, the AEG subsidiary that runs Coachella and its sister festival Stagecoach, for comment.
Sources say the festival informed Scott’s longtime agent, Cara Lewis of the Cara Lewis Group, of its intention to remove Scott from the bill, which he was going to spearhead, and that he would pay a death fee for the cancellation, generally 25%. An insider adds that Lewis has been adamant about trying to keep the venue, which would have marked Scott’s return to the stage after Astroworld, offering to waive the performance fee entirely.
Coachella, which opened in 1999, is the largest music festival in North America, with a capacity of 125,000 people. The 2022 edition is already sold out and offers a waiting list for tickets and packages.
But despite the lack of clarity, it’s hard to imagine Scott performing at any music festival in the near future in the wake of his Houston gig (Live Nation was one of the promoters for Astroworld). Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed in the wake of the Astroworld tragedy, naming Scott, guest artist Drake, promoter Live Nation and several other individuals affiliated with NRG Park and Scoremore Holdings as defendants.
Scott has expressed remorse for the tragedy, stating earlier this week during an interview with Charlamagne Tha God that he was not aware of serious injuries until after his performance. While he has since provided full refunds to all Astroworld attendees, offered to pay for the victims’ funeral costs, and canceled other upcoming concert appearances, his efforts have largely met with lukewarm response.
Scott was first announced as the headliner for Coachella nearly two years ago, in January 2020, along with Frank Ocean and Rage Against the Machine. While the festival was postponed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rage and Scott remained in their most recent lineup, with Ocean recently postponing their appearance until 2023.
With Scott’s alleged retirement, Coachella apparently now has two new headliners to announce; Swedish House Mafia announced in October that they will perform at the 2022 event, although it is unclear whether they will be headlining or not. However, the festival traditionally announces its lineup during the early days of the new year, and it seems likely that other artists will be announced at that time, as well as new main artists, assuming that pandemic conditions allow the festival to continue.
The Coachella festival is scheduled for the weekends of April 15-17 and April 22-24 at Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, California, and the national-themed Stagecoach festival is scheduled for the following weekend.