Astroworld tragedy/Travis Scott conspiracy theories

[Allen773]

It’s already happening.

Videos of the Astroworld crowd crush that killed eight people flooded TikTok over the weekend. But conspiracy theories have also flourished alongside the graphic footage, accusing the rapper Travis Scott, who founded and performed at the festival, of orchestrating a massive satanic ritual.

“This ain’t a festival, it’s a sacrifice,” reads one typical comment. “The music industry is demonic and collects souls,” reads another comment with 34,000 likes.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/09/astroworld-disaster-fuels-wave-of-satanic-conspiracy-theories-on-tiktok

TikTok has been busy removing a lot of these posts.

Meanwhile, I heard that the not-at-all exploitative and scummy folks over at InfoWars interviewed a traumatized young survivor of the crowd crush about her belief that this was a Satanic ritual murder, or something.

Remarkable how quickly conspiracy theories spread and metastasize these days. The perils of the Internet and social media, I suppose.

 

[threadworm]

Some members at ATS are getting all excited about the number of cardiac arrests in a young crowd, citing events like Hillsborough where hypoxia and crush injuries were given as the cause of death, and confusing them with heart attacks like old people have. The fact that these things can lead to cardiac arrest isn't stopping them from feeling that 'something isn't right' etc etc etc.

Add to this allegations of drug injections (all the rage at the moment, but more urban myth than reality) and you can really ramp up the hysteria.

 

[Papermache]

Satan must be as clumsy and inefficient as Jehovah. Only 9 sacrifices? Hardly seems worth the bother of creating a music festival.

 

[Myriad]

That's so half a century ago!

And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight...

 

[Armitage72]

“The music industry is demonic and collects souls”

It reminds me of an article I read, I think it was in an old issue of Skeptical Inquirer in my college library, discussing a TV or magazine interview with a "former witch" who claimed to have been part of a coven that recording companies paid to go to their factories, summon demons, and bind them into the records as they were manufactured.

 

[theprestige]

As a poetic way of describing what the music industry does, and the attitude of the AstroWorld organizers and performers towards the ticket-buying public, "the music industry is demonic and collects souls" isn't a bad turn of phrase.

I'm also amused at TikTok's sudden attack of conscience. In my view, the platform itself is far more toxic than these conspiracy theories.

 

[The Man]

“The music industry is demonic and collects souls”

It reminds me of an article I read, I think it was in an old issue of Skeptical Inquirer in my college library, discussing a TV or magazine interview with a "former witch" who claimed to have been part of a coven that recording companies paid to go to their factories, summon demons, and bind them into the records as they were manufactured.

"Hey, how come Adramalech gets bound to the new Rob Zombie album and I get a Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass rerelease?!?! I got'a talk to the shop steward!"

 

[theprestige]

"Hey, how come Adramalech gets bound to the new Rob Zombie album and I get a Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass rerelease?!?! I got'a talk to the shop steward!"

"Because Adramelech is an unsubtle prat, and you actually have a glimmering of the wit necessary to understand where the real payoffs are."

 

[The Man]

"Naw, I expect it's just that "A Taste of Honey" has my kind of demoning all over the cover."