Travis Scott's Astroworld Tragedy Launched A Satanic Panic & TikTok Is Trying To Handle It

There's no evidence that Travis Scott and Drake were doing something "evil" during the tragic events of the Astroworld festival — despite what some people are claiming online.

TikTok is trying to crack down on some pretty bizarre theories about last week's concert in Houston, where eight people died and dozens more were injured in a tragic crowd surge.

The wildest conspiracy theories suggest that Scott and Drake were doing a "Satanic sacrifice" or a "demonic ritual" during the festival. There's no proof of that, but it hasn't stopped people from running away with the idea on social media.

TikTok has confirmed to Narcity and others that it's taking down posts related to these conspiracies because they violate its community guidelines about misinformation.

Still, there are some videos with tens of millions of views that haven't been taken down, and you can find more on other social media.

On Instagram, for example, conspiracy theorists have been all over a fake tabloid cover that Travis Scott posted last week. The tabloid shows him as a Photoshopped demon, in what at the time was a new music teaser.

"Brought evil energy to that festival," one user wrote in a comment with over 3,400 likes.

This kind of Satanic panic is classic QAnon stuff, according to Joseph Russo, an expert in conspiracy theories at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

"It goes back to the idea there is a shadowy group of people in control behind it all," Russo told The Guardian. He added that he's "surprised" to see this sort of conspiracy theory taking off with younger people.

Scott and Drake are facing dozens of lawsuits over the concert tragedy, largely because the victims say that the security wasn't strong enough to prevent the crowd crush.

Scott has said he is "devastated" by what happened at the concert. He's offered refunds and a free month of counselling to everyone who was at Astroworld, and he's also offered to pay for the victims' funerals.

Drake described it as a "devastating tragedy" in a separate statement.

"May God be with you all," he wrote.