The family of the youngest victim of the Astroworld tragedy, nine-year-old Ezra Blount, is slamming Kanye West for his ‘idiotic’ demand that Billie Eilish apologize for her veiled criticism of Travis Scott.
Beron Blount, Ezra’s grandfather, spoke out in an interview with Rolling Stone following Ye’s Instagram threat to pull out of his Coachella performance if Eilish didn’t say she was sorry.
Travis Scott, meanwhile, is being slammed on Reddit for having ‘no remorse’ over the fatal incident because he liked Kanye’s social media post.
‘Hurtful’: The family of the youngest victim of the Astroworld tragedy, nine-year-old Ezra Blount, is slamming Kanye West for his ‘idiotic’ demand that Billie Eilish apologize for her veiled criticism of Travis Scott
‘To hear Kanye’s words, that’s hurtful to us. What an idiotic thing to say,’ Bernon told the outlet.
Bernon and his wife Tericia are the grandparents of the youngest victim of the Astroworld crowd stampede that killed 10 people. Ezra, nine, fell from his dad’s shoulders during the surge and landed in a coma, dying later in the hospital.
On Thursday, Kanye took to Instagram to demand that Billie Eilish apologize for her recent comments regarding Travis Scott and the Astroworld tragedy.
His statement came after Eilish, 20, recently stopped her show to give an inhaler to a fan who couldn’t breathe, and made a comment that many took to be a dig at Scott.
‘To hear Kanye’s words, that’s hurtful to us. What an idiotic thing to say,’ Bernon Blount told Rolling Stone (Ezra pictured in November at Astroworld)
After noticing the distressed fan, Eilish halted her performance and directed medical staff to administer aid to the fan and subsequently asked the other attendees to step back and let the individual in question regain their composure.
‘I wait for people to be OK until I keep going,’ the Ocean Eyes singer said, seeming to allude to Scott’s deadly Astroworld Festival while shaming the rapper’s conduct on stage.
The singer’s comment caused the audience to begin cheering loudly, and she proceeded to resume her show.
Ezra’s grandmother, Tericia Blount told Rolling Stone: ‘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.’
She cares: Eilish, 20, recently stopped her show to give an inhaler to a fan who couldn’t breathe, and made a comment that many took to be a dig at Scott
In response to Billie, who never actually mentioned Travis or Astroworld, Kanye penned on Instagram: ‘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 continued.
‘And yes Trav will be with me at Coachella but now I need Billie to apologize before I perform,’ he concluded, though it’s unclear whether Scott will be performing with the rapper on stage.
Eilish replaced Scott on the Coachella bill after the tragic events at Astroworld.
Meanwhile the singer commented back saying, ‘literally never said a thing about travis. was just helping a fan.’
Ultimatum: In response to Billie, Kanye threatened to pull out of his Coachella performance – where he is billed alongside Eilish – unless the young star apologizes
Going off: Kanye also went off on a fan who commented, ‘Man’s off the meds album gonna go crazy’ writing, ‘It’s cheap and dismissive to say I’m off my meds anytime I speak up’
Travis Scott, who is the father of Kylie Jenner’s two children – the cousins of Kanye’s four kids – went and clicked like on Kanye’s initial post.
A Reddit thread then went viral, slamming Scott for seemingly having ‘no remorse’ over the tragedy.
‘Omfg the audacity of Travis. Dying to save face… No remorse. Him liking it literally shows his disingenuousness and selfishness,’ one person wrote.
Others pointed out the ‘lack of empathy’ displayed in the action of liking the post.
It is notable that back in November, Travis offered to pay for the funeral of young Ezra Blount.
Horrifying: 10 people died as the result of a crowd stampede at Astroworld in November while Travis played on stage, including nine-year-old Ezra – Scott later offered to pay Blounts funeral expenses
The incident involving Scott, 30, took place during the first night of the Astroworld Festival, which was held on November 5th of last year.
The performer’s fans began acting aggressively just after the start of his set, during which a crowd surge occurred and thousands were pushed towards the main stage.
During Scott’s performance, ten people were crushed by other fans and died from the effects of various ailments, including cardiac arrest and asphyxiation.
The concert was notably designated as a mass casualty event roughly halfway through its length.
However, the rapper continued to perform for his fans and brought out Drake to finish off his set, which ended around 10 PM.
Scott later garnered controversy for allegedly ignoring the events unfolding around him and was accused of ignoring concertgoers who had experienced medical issues during his set.
Several lawsuits were filed against the rapper for his role in the festival’s tragic events.
Slammed! Scott subsequently liked Kanye’s ultimatum post and then got attacked on Reddit for being insensitive and having ‘no remorse’