Billie Eilish has some thoughts about Travis Scott. In a concert in Atlanta on Saturday, the pop singer halted her show to attend to a fan in apparent distress, while taking a not-so-subtle jab at Scott and his dubious handling of the deadly Astroworld Fest.
“You need an inhaler? Who is it?” Eilish asked, after stopping the music and looking in the crowd for a distressed fan who was ostensibly struggling in the pit at State Farm Arena. Eilish beckoned security to fetch an inhaler, while instructing those in the pit not to crowd around the fan.
“We’re taking care of our people, hold on,” Eilish then told the packed stadium. She then paused and added pointedly, to cheers from the crowd, “I wait for people to be O.K. until I keep going.”
The remark landed as a likely reference to Scott’s Astroworld Fest, the artist’s November music event that, as a result of unregulated crowd crushes, resulted in the death of 10 fans. Scott has been at the center of the tragedy, which is in the midst of an ongoing investigation, facing criticism over his lack of crowd control and, some say, blatant disregard for the many fans that were chanting for him to stop the show.
In Atlanta, after an inhaler was provided, Eilish checked back in: “Do you need to come out, or are you okay?” she said before blowing a kiss to the fan. She then turned to the crowd, reassured them, and led them in a breathing exercise before resuming the show.
“Everybody’s O.K. We’re going to keep it going. And I want us all to take a deep breath in. Here we go,” Eilish said, with a deep inhale. “And let it out.”
