Kylie Jenner faces backlash after reviving Astroworld theme at kids' birthday bash
Kylie Jenner is facing criticism for the recent birthday bash she threw for her two young children that featured nods to her baby daddy Travis Scott's Astroworld music festival — an event where 10 concertgoers died in 2021.
On her Instagram, Jenner shared video and photos of the lavish party for 1-year-old Aire and 5-year-old Stormi Webster, who were born four years and one day apart. The event featured large gray inflatable heads, similar to one at the entrance of the 2021 music festival in Houston. That entrance was a play on the cover art of Scott's 2018 "Astroworld" album.
At the party, guests were able to walk into the mouths of the large inflatable heads, which resembled the kids. Stormi's tunnel-mouth led to archways of pink and rainbow-colored balloons, while Aire's featured toy cars and a mock-up of Pacific Coast Highway.
The "Kardashians" personality has been known to throw expensive parties for her children with Scott — born Jacques Bermon Webster II. Stormi was gifted diamonds when she was just a year old in 2019.
For other birthdays, Jenner also used the Astroworld theme and erected an inflatable head of her daughter, dubbing one bash "stormi world." But after the 2021 festival incident where festivalgoers were crushed in a crowd surge, she seemed to have retired the motif.
But after this week's revival of the theme, many voiced their criticism, accusing her of being insensitive to the victims of the festival.
"Kylie Jennef [sic] still doing Astroworld themed parties after what happened in Astroworld is disgusting. A 9-years-old kid died there, please," one user wrote on Twitter, referring to Dallas native Ezra Blount.
"Kinda in bad taste for Kylie to decorate her kids birthday party like Astroworld considering what happened," a Milwaukee user commented.
"Why does Kylie do an Astroworld themed birthday party for stormi every year… you have so much money try something new," wrote one user from Toronto.
One person called the birthday party "a bit scary," while another called on Jenner to retire the theme.
Shortly after the 2021 tragedy, Jenner issued a statement saying she was "broken and devastated" by the incident.
“I want to make it clear we weren’t aware of any fatalities until the news came out after the show and in no world would have continued filming or performing," she wrote at the time. "I am sending my deepest condolences to all the families during this difficult time.”
In recent months, the billionaire beauty mogul has also been criticized for taking a private jet on a 17-minute flight from Camarillo to Van Nuys, largely due to the flight's heavy amounts of carbon dioxide emissions.
Last month, Jenner also faced backlash — along with some praise — for attending a runway show in a gown with a lifelike lion’s head attached to the right shoulder. Despite promises that no animals were harmed in its creation, some said the piece glorified the killing of animals and promoted animal cruelty.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
