The tragic accident at Astroworld (Houston), when eight people got killed and at least two dozen injured during Travis Scott’s gig, had some unusual consequences as well. It was just this Sunday that Epic released an “Out West” Fortnite emote featuring Travis Scott. Now it’s out of the store.
This emote is not the only disabled thing. The entire “Daily” section where it was featured got unavailable and the next day returned with a completely new set of items. It happened immediately after the news about the tragedy had spread around. The reaction by Epic was quite logical. The representatives, though, only confirm that the gesture was intentional, giving no explanations.
While Travis Scott himself also takes the tragedy very personally and cancels his next gigs, hardly will he (or his most devoted fans) argue with this Epic’s decision. Travis has a long story of successful collaboration with Fortnite. The emote in question was inspired by the TikTok viral dance to Scott’s “Out West” (featuring Jackboys) and first appeared on Fortnite in August 2020. Before that, in April 2020, Fortnite shortly featured a Travis Scott skin after the rapper delivered an online gig there that attracted up to 12.3 million watchers simultaneously.
The removal won’t affect the users who had got the emote already by that moment. They will be able to use it still, though ethically it would be (to say the least) not wise. Maybe some cynical videos with this dance will appear on YouTube and other services soon. They will not violate any rules formally, though their authors’ motives are hard to comprehend.
Do you approve of the decision by Epic? If you still have any Scott-themed content, will the event stop you from using it? And when do you think it will make sense to return to it? Write us a comment and share your thoughts.