Coachella announced Travis Scott as its headliner in January 2020. However, a petition started in the wake of the Astroworld Festival tragedy last month has forced Coachella's hand to drop him from the lineup.

Travis Scott, a native of Houston, is one of the most popular artists of the last decade. With his auto-tune-heavy vocal approach, he pioneered the now-common singing method while rapping. His 2018 album "Astroworld" sold over four million copies in the U.S.

Tragedy struck on Friday, November 5, 2021, however. Ten people were killed, and hundreds injured at Travis Scott's Astroworld music festival in NRG Park in Houston, Texas, as concertgoers pushed toward the stage at 9:30 p.m. during the rapper's headlining act. The deceased varied in age from 14 to 27 years old.

Twenty-five people were admitted to hospitals, while eight were reported deceased. According to her family's attorney, a ninth victim died on November 10 after being ruled brain-dead. The tenth victim, a 9-year-old boy in a medically-induced coma, died on November 14. According to officials, several victims appear to have been stomped. 

Some recordings appeared to show a person stepping onto a platform where a camera operator was shooting (the concert was live-streamed on Apple Music) and calling for the show to stop, claiming that people were dying.  According to the New York Times, others can be heard dismissing one attendee's cries, telling him to "cool down."

In another video, attendees can be seen dancing on interrupting an ambulance that was attempting to enter the mass. People were climbing on top of security trucks in the video as well. According to the Daily Beast, those fans weren't aware of what was happening.

According to Scott's attorneys, he interrupted the Houston event on many occasions when he sensed someone in the audience was in distress, gestures that they claim alerted security to the problems. He also claimed to have checked on the audience before proceeding. 

Several video recordings uploaded on social media show the music being interrupted, including one time when he highlighted someone in trouble. "Someone is passing out right here," he can be heard saying.

Regardless of what actually happened, a petition to cancel the rapper's appearances at all upcoming AEG, Paul Tollet and Goldenvoice festivals was launched on Change.org. Over 60,000 have signed the petition. Coachella later announced that Scott was dropped from the lineup.

Variety reported that "the festival informed Scott's longtime agent, Cara Lewis of the Cara Lewis Group, of its intent to pull Scott from the bill, which he was to headline, and that it would pay a kill fee for the cancelation, typically 25 percent". Several insiders said Scott offered to perform for free after learning he was dropped.

Almost 2,800 Astroworld attendees have filed lawsuits against Scott, producer Live Nation, and others involved in the event, alleging negligence in preparation. Victims' and event organizers' attorneys have agreed to combine the multiple claims into one big case to be handled by a single judge.

He requested that many of the claims against him be dismissed earlier this month, with a spokesman for the rapper claiming that he is "not legally liable" for the tragedy.

Other parties involved in the complaints, including Live Nation, its subsidiary ScoreMore, and the promoters of Astroworld, have denied any responsibility.

Scott recently spoke with Charlamagne tha God for the first time since the Astroworld disaster. The rapper mentioned safety numerous times throughout the almost one-hour discussion posted on December 9, stressing that he wanted to learn what happened so that such tragedies may be avoided at future performances.

However, he also stated that he considered it was the role of "professionals", not artists, to arrange safety precautions.

"As an artist, you just do the creative. And this to be my festival, I got to bring artists, creatively produce it," he said. "We just trust the professionals to make sure that people are taken care of and leaving safely."

There is no information on who will take Scott's Coachella spot yet.