Hulu Withdraws Documentary On Astroworld Tragedy After Social Media Backlash

Walt Disney Co.’s DIS Hulu streaming service abruptly withdrew its new documentary “Astroworld: Concert From Hell” shortly after the production’s premiere on Wednesday sparked an angry backlash on social media.

What Happened: The 50-minute documentary was produced by KTRK, the Houston affiliate of Disney’s ABC television network, and focused on the Nov. 5 Astroworld Festival headlined by rapper Travis Scott that resulted in the deaths of 10 people after a crowd of 50,000 surged to a stage and crushed against each other.

The documentary was promoted by Hulu as a “minute-by-minute look at what happened in the crowd, the young victims who were killed, and what happens next.” Variety reported that Hulu stated it withdrew the documentary because viewers mistakenly believed it was an original production by the streaming service.

“This was an investigative local news special from ABC13/KTRK-TV in Houston that originally aired on November 20th,” said a Hulu spokesperson in a statement. “This was not a Hulu documentary and has since been removed to avoid confusion.”

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What Else Happened: However, Hulu faced a wave of angry comments from Twitter TWTR users who accused the service of exploiting the victims of the tragedy.

"Astroworld victims haven't been put in the ground yet, and the media already has a special on Hulu. We are in hell." one Twitter user wrote.

Another Twitter user added, “If there’s one thing Hulu is gonna do, it’s make money off a recent tragedy. It’s not the first time I’ve seen a rushed ‘documentary’ on my home page trying to capitalize off of recent trauma.”

And another Twitter denizen observed, “‘If it bleeds, it leads’ thats always been the media's game.”

The Astroworld tragedy generated lawsuits against multiple parties behind the event including Scott, guest performer Drake and show promoter Live Nation LYV.

Photo: Travis Scott, courtesy of The Come Up Show / Flickr Creative Commons