Nike postpone launch of their Travis Scott/Air Max collaboration after Astroworld tragedy

Nike have postponed the release of their Cactus Jack Air Max 1 sneaker collaboration with Travis Scott following the fatal crowd surge at the rapper's Astroworld festival that has left 10 people dead and hundreds injured.

Nike announced the delay to sneaker fans earlier this week on the SNKRS app earlier this week, saying that the decision was "out of respect for everyone impacted by the tragic events at the Astroworld Festival". Due to be launched on December 16th, there is no indication from the sneaker giant as to when the collaboration will now be released.

Nike are the latest brand to distance themselves from the rapper in the wake of the Astroworld tragedy, after Fortnite removed their Travis Scott emote from their game just days after the festival.

The death toll from the festival has risen to 10 in recent days, after nine-year-old Ezra Blount died in hospital from his injuries. The youngest victim of the fatal crush that happened when the crowd began to surge forward during Scott's performance, he had sustained heavy damage to the brain, liver and kidney after being trampled by the crowd. He was rushed to the hospital and placed in a medically induced coma, but died on November 14th.

The Blount family have now filed lawsuit a seeking at least $1 million in damages. The suit names Travis Scott, Live Nation Entertainment, Cactus Jack Records, and several others as defendants.

Multiple separate lawsuits have now been brought against Scott, the festival organisers and other parties, including Drake who performed with the rapper just before the  crowd surge. Allegations of improper crowd control, failure to provide proper medical attention, and accusing organisers of putting profits over the safety of festival goers, are among some of the accusations in the suits.

Scott has offered a number of apologies across social media, and has offered to pay the funeral costs for all victims.