Contributed by Lauren Taylor
Hulu with a “post and delete.” On Wednesday, the streaming services released and subsequently removed a news special surrounding the tragic incidents that occurred only one month ago at the Astroworld Festival.
The series was titled Astroworld: Concert From Hell, it seemed to have only one episode and the description read, “Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival was supposed to be the concert of a lifetime. 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.”
Many people believed that releasing this news special so soon, amidst people mourning and lawsuits are still in effect wasn’t the best idea. People reacted on social media voicing their opinions, one viral tweet from a user said, “Hulu making a documentary about Astroworld is in poor taste all around. People are still burying their loved ones. The legal cases haven’t even started. Great documentaries are done when all the facts are laid out. Not enough time has passed to fully discuss this.”
The Twitter user was under the impression the Hulu produced the special, which they in fact did not. According to Variety, a Hulu representative cleared the air on why the program was removed. “Astroworld: Concert From Hell” was removed from the service because it was not properly branded — the way it was presented and promoted made it look like the feature was a Hulu original, which it isn’t.” The representative did not mention the backlash from users as a reasoning for the removal.
Some people feel as though the program was necessary for some to gain closure over the incident.
6) The core of it was the families sharing stories about the night, their loved ones (it’s therapeutic to share what you loved about you loved ones), and thanking the people who tried their best to help save their family
— Taylor Williams (@TaylorTaylorw01) December 2, 2021
The program was produced by KTRK, which is owned by ABC and operates locally in Houston. The original news special aired on November 20th and you can watch it here.
