Pressing pause. In the wake of the Astroworld Festival tragedy on November 5, Dior has “indefinitely” postponed its collaboration with Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack creative house.
The collection, which was first teased in June, marked the first time the French luxury label has ever teamed up with a musician. Despite being mere weeks away from its January launch date, Dior issued a statement to WWD announcing they put the capsule collection with the 30-year-old rapper on hold until further notice.
“Out of respect for everyone affected by the tragic events at Astroworld, Dior has decided to postpone indefinitely the launch of products from the Cactus Jack collaboration originally intended to be included in its summer 2022 collection,” the official statement read.
Ten people were killed and many others were injured following a crowd surge during Scott’s headlining performance. In the weeks following the tragedy, the performer has denied legal liability in the events that led to the aforementioned injuries and fatalities, which has sparked outrage among those who think he should be held accountable.
In his first public interview following the event, Scott alleged that he didn’t know the nature of the concert attendees injuries until after he exited the stage. “Fans come to the show to have a good experience,” he told Charlamagne Tha God in a YouTube video on December 9. “I have a responsibility to figure out what happened here, a responsibility to figure out the solution and hopefully this takes a first step into us as artists having more insight of what’s going on.”
Dior isn’t the first brand that’s distanced itself from Scott following the devastating event. On November 15, Nike postponed the launch of the musician’s Air Max 1 sneakers in “Baroque Brown” and “Saturn Gold” colorways. In a statement, the company said: “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.”
These fallen brand deals transcend the fashion space. In a December 10 statement, Anheuser-Busch cut production of the rapper’s Cacti hard seltzers, which launched in early 2021. “After careful evaluation, we have decided to stop all production and brand development of CACTI Agave Spiked Seltzer,” said a brand spokesperson. “We believe brand fans will understand and respect this decision.”