Nike has set back the launch of their Travis Scott collaboration after 10 people died and hundreds more were injured at the rapper's Astroworld festival in Houston earlier this month.
"Out of respect for everyone impacted by the tragic events at the Astroworld Festival, we are postponing the launch of the Air Max 1 x Cactus Jack," the company said in a statement shared via their SNKRS app and the Nike website.
Scott has collaborated with Nike on numerous occasions in the past. His sneaker collections have been so popular that it has lead some shops to swear off stocking his shoes in order to avoid crazed fans and resellers, according to one GQ report. His latest Nike collab, in the "Baroque Brown" and the "Saturn Gold" colorways, was originally slated to drop on Dec. 16 but no new date has been announced yet.
Nike's decision comes after 9-year-old Ezra Blount passed away on Sunday from injuries he sustained at the Astroworld festival. Ezra was sitting on his father's shoulders when the crowd began to crush them, his father, Treston Blount, wrote in a GoFundMe campaign created to raise funds to help cover medical expenses.
Treston Blount lost consciousness and when he awoke, his son was missing, he said. Ezra was later treated at the hospital and placed in a medically induced coma. He suffered severe injuries to his organs and brain swelling that he sustained while being trampled by the crowd, his family said.
Ezra is the latest and youngest of 10 victims who died in crowd surges at Astroworld. The ages of those who died now range from 9 to 27. One was a freshman in high school; another was a senior at Texas A&M university, according to ABC13.
Following the tragedy, Scott pledged to cover the funeral costs of the victims. Authorities have since launched a criminal investigation into the rapper and Live Nation, the organizers behind the festival. And the Blount family is among numerous parties who have filed lawsuits against Scott and Live Nation.
Some have theorized that the repercussions for Scott are just beginning. Throughout his career, the Houston-born rapper enjoyed lucrative partnerships with well-known brands like McDonald's and Fortnite, but his latest projects, like his upcoming menswear collection with Dior, may suffer, according to a Rolling Stone report.
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