The grandparents of Astroworld’s youngest victim, nine-year-old Ezra Blount, have condemned Kanye West’s recent demand that Billie Eilish apologise to Travis Scott.
West, who has legally changed his name to Ye, demanded Eilish say sorry after reports claimed the singer made a dig at Scott during her recent concert.
“To hear Kanye’s words, that’s hurtful to us. What an idiotic thing to say,” grandfather Bernon Blount told Rolling Stone.
Tericia Blount, Ezra’s grandmother, said West should be praising Eilish for stopping her show in Atlanta to help a fan who was struggling to breathe, rather than attacking her online.
“I think it’s just crazy, and I hate to use that word, but I think it’s ridiculous,” she said. “She’s making sure that she is caring for the patrons at her concert, and I just think that’s crazy of Kanye to even let that demand come out of his mouth.”
Eilish stopped in the middle of her performance at State Farm Arena in Atlanta last week after she noticed a fan having difficulty breathing.
After the incident had been seen to, she told the crowd: “I wait for people to be OK until I keep going.”
Many interpreted Eilish’s comment as a criticism of Scott, who continued to perform at his Astroworld concert in November while people in the crowd were being crushed.
In an interview a month after the tragedy, Scott claimed he wasn’t aware people were seriously injured, and had died, until after his performance was over.
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Sharing a news report about Eilish “dissing” Scott, West asked Eilish to “apologise to Trav and to the families of the people who lost their lives no one intended this to happen”.
He added: “Trav will be with me at Coachella but now I need Billie to apologise before I perform.”
Eilish commented on the post in her own defence. “Literally never said a thing about travis. was just helping a fan,” she wrote.
“That’s crazy that he wants someone to apologise for putting the welfare of someone else before their profits,” Bernon said. “That’s someone who needed their asthma pump. They could have lost their life, right then. This world is twisted, and we have to stop doing this.”
“I totally commend Billie Eilish for having that decency about her,” Terecia added. “I think what she did was wonderful, and I would love to tell her myself how brilliant and awesome she is for doing so.”
