The tragedy of the Astroworld music festival will be remembered for ages and leaves a permanent scar on Travis Scott’s legacy. A documentary about the show was rushed out and faces an overwhelmingly negative response. Here’s what’s going on, and where you can still find it.
Hulu pulls The Plug
Less than a month after Astroworld claimed 10 lives, Hulu released a documentary about the ill-fated concert. Astroworld: Concert From Hell premiered on December 1. It seems like the streaming giant wanted to combat HBO Max’s documentary about Woodstock ’99, which quickly became a viral hit. The key difference is Woodstock ’99 was over 20 years ago, while the grief of Astroworld is all too fresh.
The backlash was swift. Many took to social media to criticize the documentary. One tweet, in particular, went viral and sums up why so many were disgusted with Hulu. Critics thought it was just too soon to do the victims’ justice.
Hulu Didn’t Make It
There’s some confusion about Astroworld: Concert From Hell. It was originally labeled a Hulu original documentary, but that was never actually the case. It was created by local Houston ABC affiliate ABC13/KTRK-TV. In fact, it’s still available on their website if you cared to check it out. It’s a 50-minute documentary basically collecting all of the station’s coverage, and going in-depth on what it was like to be there that day.
TABC13/KTRK says the documentary will take viewers inside the festival: “What really happened — from chaos at the gates hours before the music started, to what went wrong in the crowd as the night went on, and the ten victims who never made it home. Plus what happens next in the growing investigation.” The documentary includes interviews with attendees and police officers alike, and it uses a lot of fan footage.
Still Not Great
If the documentary remained squarely focused on the events of the day, that would be one thing. However, the documentary does examine the aftermath and police investigations. It’s not limited to the past.
All the criticism of Hulu, it seems, should be directed to this ABC affiliate, both of which are primarily under the purview of Disney. It’s difficult to see this as anything other than a reckless cash grab profiting off the tragedy.
The story of Astroworld is far from over, so it’s pretty reckless to begin recounting what happened. The lawsuits have barely begun, and Scott is still squabbling with victims over funeral payments. You cannot accurately tell this story without the benefit of hindsight, so it’s no wonder that the public reacted so negatively.