Hulu has pulled a documentary about the Astroworld tragedy hours after it appeared on the streaming service, quickly sparking a backlash over the timing of the special.
On Wednesday, Dec. 1, Astroworld: Concert From Hell was uploaded onto Hulu with little fanfare or promotion; soon after, word of the insensitively titled documentary — which, on the surface, appeared to look like new and original programming — spread on social media.
“Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival was supposed to be the concert of a lifetime,” the Hulu synopsis read. “But it turned into a tragic nightmare. A minute-by-minute look at what happened in the crowd, the young victims who were killed, and what happens next.”
However, a spokesperson for Hulu clarified in a statement Thursday (via The Hollywood Reporter) that the 50-minute documentary “was an investigative local news special from ABC13/KTRK-TV in Houston that originally aired on Nov. 20,” just two weeks after a crowd surge at Travis Scott’s Houston festival killed 10 people and injured hundreds more.
The streaming service added, “This was not a Hulu documentary and has since been removed to avoid confusion.”
As Variety notes, the local news special — also titled Astroworld: Concert From Hell — is still available to view on ABC 13 KTRK’s website, which also states that it can also be streamed on Roku, Apple TV, Google TV, and other services.
From Rolling Stone US
