Music

A 14-year-old named John Hilgert is the youngest victim to lose his life at the Astroworld Festival.

John's family shared the photo of the boy who was apparently crushed in the stampede Friday night.

He was a 9th grader at Memorial High School in Houston.

The Houston Medical Examiner also released a photo of someone they have been unable to identify. The victim is a male in his 20s, stood 6'2" and weighed 498 lbs.

They obviously have released the photo so someone can claim the body.

Among the other victims ... 27-year-old Danish Baig, who was crushed to death while trying to save a relative, 21-year-old Franco Patino, a senior at the Univ. of Dayton in Ohio, 16-year-old Brianna Rodriguez, a junior high school student who loved dance, and 23-year-old Rudy Pena, a model who wanted to become a U.S. Border Patrol Agent.

In all, 8 people died and hundreds were injured. Astroworld and Travis Scott have been severely criticized for not stopping the concert when the tragedy unfolded. He stayed on performing for 40 minutes.

Kylie Jenner echoed the sentiments of her partner, Travis Scott, saying they're heartbroken over the Astroworld tragedy that claimed 8 lives and injured hundreds -- insisting Travis was not aware of the severity of the situation when he was performing as the crowd surged.

Kylie said, "Travis and I are broken and devastated. My thoughts and prayers are with all who lost their lives, were injured or affected in any way by yesterday’s events."

She went on to address criticism that Travis stayed on stage performing for 40 minutes after the tragedy unfolded ... "And also for Travis who I know cares deeply for his fans and the Houston community, 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."

Kylie -- who's pregnant with her and Travis' second child -- along with 3-year-old Stormi were at the venue but far away from the crush of people. Kendall Jenner was also with them.

Earlier Travis posted, "I'm honestly just devastated ... We're actually working right now to identify the families so we can help assist them through this tough time.

As for Kylie, she ended with words of sympathy ... "I am sending my deepest condolences to all the families during this difficult time and will be praying for the healing of everyone who has been impacted."

Jenner was criticized online for leaving up Instagram stories of the crowd, which appeared to show an ambulance trying to make its way through.

The festival is getting severely criticized for not stopping the concert, despite emergency responders declaring the scene a "mass casualty" event as they tried resuscitating some of the victims.

Katt Williams didn't want to take any chances Saturday night when someone passed out in the crowd ... unlike what happened at Astroworld -- but almost certainly because of it, Katt stopped the show.

Someone in the crowd lost consciousness and someone screamed, "Stop the show!" Katt heeded the advice and took a 10-minute break while medics rushed in to tend to the audience member.

Katt stayed on stage at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky, pacing around and talking to the crowd, but he clearly didn't want to jump right back into his set until medical matters were handled.

You hear Katt tell the audience, "I'm sorry if I won't move on but that Astroworld s*** I mean we can't never continue till we know somebody motherf***ing good ... I'm not goin' to be leaving with that on my conscious ... just take five minutes ... thank you, sir ... I hope she's just having a baby. That's all."

It's unclear what happened to the man who lost consciousness. He was taken out of the auditorium and Katt said, "We made the right decision," adding, "Alright, come back from a commercial break." He continued on with his set.

Travis Scott was mostly oblivious to what was going on around him Friday night during his Astroworld set -- including the fact people were dying around him ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Travis is utterly devastated over what transpired Friday, and he's beside himself over it. We're told he's been crying since it all happened, and he's an emotional wreck.

We're told he wasn't aware of the extent of what was happening around him -- people going into cardiac arrest, etc. -- and thought what few people he did see being attended to were folks who'd simply passed out from dehydration.

It's not uncommon for that type of thing to happen ... especially at a packed festival like this.

We're told Trav did, in fact, stop the show a few times to check on people who appeared to be unconscious or in distress, alerting security and other personnel over to them for assistance. But, our sources say he simply didn't realize how bad it actually was.

Not just that, but we're told neither he nor his camp were even informed about deaths or hospitalizations until after the show was done. As we reported ... a total of 8 people have died thus far, and dozens more were injured and hospitalized, including several minors.

As for Kylie ... our sources say she too is quite upset, and is trying to console Travis as best she can by being there for him.

Like we first told you, there were sightings of at least one person getting jabbed in the neck with a needle ... something Houston PD confirmed as accurate. It's unclear if that may have led to all of the cardiac arrests, or just one or a few -- but it'll certainly be looked at as part of the wider probe.

If this is Lou Williams' last year in the NBA, a big music career could be part of his retirement plan ... 'cause rapper 2KBABY tells TMZ Sports he's spent hours in the studio with the hooper -- and they have a bunch of songs ready to drop!!!

The 35-year-old Atlanta Hawks guard recently spoke out about his future in the league ... saying 2021-22 could very well be the last time we see Lou Will on the court.

Of course, Williams has dropped music in the past -- he even has a tribute track to the late Kobe Bryant -- but 2KBABY says there's much more on the way ... and he knows that because he's on the tracks!!!

"Shoutout Lou Williams, though," the "Luigi" rapper told us in L.A. this week. "That's my n****, bro. Me and Lou, we locked into the studio when I was in Atlanta."

"Me and Lou got some tracks."

Okay, so they have some songs together ... but is the 3-time 6th Man of the Year any good?!? 2KBABY says hell yeah -- "Lou can spit!!!"

Justin Bieber is ready for winter early thanks to Kanye's new line of Yeezys -- only this time, they're boots ... and not too different from what a kid might wear for his first time in ice.

The Biebs grabbed a morning bite Saturday at the Bel-Air Hotel with his wife, Hailey, and his outfit screamed "Ma, it's snowing!" ... at least from his calves down. His upper half was pretty normal, but JB was wearing the just-released Yeezy NSTLD Boots, Khaki in color.

As you can see ... Justin wanted to show them off in full, so he wore them over his pant legs, tucking in the loose ends so the boots were prominently displayed. Indeed, they're pretty puffy ... and bulky. But ... are they, like, stylish???

Bieber sure seems to think so -- these things just went on sale to the public Friday, and they were retailing for over $300. So, clearly, Justin wanted to get his hands on a pair and rock them ASAP.

We'll say this ... they look part-UGG boot and part-space boot, and are obviously laced with Kanye's signature Yeezy design for the bottom portion. It's also very much so in line with the poofy aesthetic Ye's been running with lately -- specifically, from his Gap Round jacket.

Travis Scott's first night of his Astroworld concert in Houston turned into a horrific tragedy Friday night ... leaving 8 people dead and more than 300 injured, and there were signs of trouble even before the concert began.

50,000 people filled the sold-out venue, when, at around 9 PM people began surging toward the stage. People started getting crushed and panic ensued. According to Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena, "People began to fall out, become unconscious and it created additional panic."

At least 8 people died in the stampede. 11 people went into cardiac arrest and were rushed to the hospital. More than 300 fans went to the field hospital near the venue.

Someone working the festival tells TMZ ... people were hopping on camera platforms, begging concert staff to end the show after the stampede erupted. They said, "Anything climbable was climbed." They also say there were several thousand pairs of shoes left behind as people fled. When the concert shut down, they said a stage manager said the venue was now "a crime scene."

The scene was chaotic ... medical personnel could not handle all the injured. There is video showing some of them performing CPR.

One concertgoer named Madeline, a nurse, tells TMZ, she was there with her boyfriend when Travis took the stage. During the first song, people started pushing toward the stage and she says she began to feel light-headed, telling us, "I passed out from the constant pressure on my chest and was one of the first people to be carried," adding, "They threw me on top of other people and crowd surfed me to other people, who lifted me over a fence where security was waiting." She says "security guards were bringing bodies from that area to the VIP area," as Travis kept performing, adding, "I see security carrying people who are not moving." She says once she regained her senses, she began administering first aid to others.

A slew of ambulances rushed to the scene ... which became direr every minute.

Before chaos erupted, Travis stopped the show several times during his 75-minute set ... after noticing some of the fans in the front seemed in distress. He told security to make sure they weren't hurt. At one point Travis asked for security to help a specific individual.

Shortly before the surge, Drake had performed with Travis ... and there was no indication the crowd would try to rush the stage.

However, there were some signs of trouble even before the show. A slew of fans knocked over barricades and rushed into the venue.

Kylie Jenner was on hand for the festival as the chaos erupted. She was there with her and Travis's daughter Stormi. As far as we know, they're fine. They were not sitting near the crush.

A reunification center was set up at a nearby hotel, so family members of concert-goers could reunite.

The Medical Examiner is in the process of determining the cause of death of the 8 fatalities.

This was the first night of what was supposed to be a 3-day festival. The second night has already been canceled.

Jay-Z was trying to walk a fine line while talking about Dave Chappelle's new comedy special -- but it's clear which side of the debate he lands on ... and that would be in DC's camp.

The rapper spoke on the controversy surrounding "The Closer" Friday on a Twitter Space audio conversation -- one that was being hosted by Netflix's Strong Black Lead account, no less. Somebody asked him point-blank about what he thought, and Jay shared.

Check it out ... Jay-Z says Dave is "super brave," going on to say if you spend time with him, you'll see he's "brilliant." Now, Jay does admit Dave pushed a lot of buttons -- ones that apparently made HOV squirm, as he describes -- but in the end, he considers it "true art."

He goes on to say we're in a time now where people can't have discussions with others who disagree with them -- emblematic in the reaction to Dave's stand-up -- and Jay thinks ... that kinda sucks.

Eventually, the person seemingly moderating the convo asks Jay if he thinks the special was divisive -- and Jay tries to dissociate Dave's special with what he considers great art, which he describes as oftentimes being divisive. While he tried to separate the two, it's clear he thinks Dave's show might fall into that "great art" category.

It's also obvious Jay has no real problem with Dave, evidenced in the fact that he invited him to be one of the keynote speakers at his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction a week ago ... and was more than happy to pose and smile with the guy.

Soulja Boy was almost, ALMOST, at a loss for words when he heard Kanye West trash a verse he recorded for "Donda" ... telling us Ye previously said he liked it.

The former Mr. West made headlines Thursday during his interview on Revolt TV's "Drink Champs," where he talked marriage, money, fashion and music. One of the more notable moments came when Ye opened up about his recent beef with Soulja Boy.

If you hadn't heard, Soulja was pissed after Kanye released "Donda" without a verse Soulja recorded for the project. When asked why he left Soulja off, Ye not so shyly said it was crap ... and that's why it didn't make the cut.

Well, Soulja tells us Ye's words on 'Champs' stunned him, because in person, Ye had praised his verse ... so to hear the opposite now really surprised him.

It wasn't, however, all bad -- Kanye did give SB some props during the interview, calling him one of the top 5 most influential rappers of all time for modern artists.

Talib Kweli is going all Jack Nicholson on Kanye West ... he says Yeezy doesn't like him because Ye can't handle the truth!!!

The rapper and activist is firing back at Kanye after Ye ripped him a new one, telling TMZ ... the beef is all over Talib's disapproval of Ye's support of Donald Trump and right-wing rhetoric.

Talib tells us Kanye doesn't like hearing from Kweli about how his support for Trump puts a target on the backs of minorities, at least in Talib's mind, but TK says he still loves Mr. West.

Kanye ignited this new back and forth when he went OFF on Talib this week on Revolt TV's "Drink Champs" ... saying Common's a better artist, declaring himself way more popular and clowning Talib for wearing baseball caps.

Talib says he has no bones to pick with Kanye on two of those subjects ... telling us he's honored just to be compared to Common, and explaining why he's not trying to beat Kanye in a popularity contest.

Sounds like the baseball hat diss might have struck a nerve ... Talib says his headwear is more diverse than Kanye wants folks to believe, and he takes a few shots at Kanye's taste in anything above the shoulders.

Fetty Wap is about to get out of jail as he awaits trial in his federal drug case ... TMZ has learned.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the rapper's bail has been set at $500,000.

When Fetty is officially sprung from jail, he'll have a few conditions for his release. The docs say he must wear a GPS monitoring device, submit to drug testing, surrender his passport and get prior approval from authorities to travel for any professional tours.

As we reported ... the feds grabbed Fetty last month before he was set to hit the stage at Rolling Loud in New York, arresting him on drug charges.

Prosecutors allege Fetty and others distributed more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and crack cocaine across New Jersey and Long Island ... and claim the drugs were first obtained on the West Coast and smuggled East using secret compartments in USPS vehicles.

During their investigation, the feds say they obtained $1.5 million in cash, firearms, 16 kilos of cocaine, 2 kilos of heroin, plus fentanyl pills.

Britney Spears' former business managers have some deep, dark secrets they don't want the public to know about ... at least that's how her attorney interprets their radio silence.

Mathew Rosengart fired off a letter to Tri Star Sports & Entertainment Group earlier this week ... repeating his demand for them to turn over a bunch of documents. Specifically, he's investigating exactly how Lou Taylor's company ran Britney's life ... financially and otherwise.

In the letter TMZ obtained in a court filing, Rosengart says one thing he's demanded -- but not received -- for more than 6 weeks is the total amount of fees Tri Star's taken from Britney since 2008. He says, "Tri Star's ongoing failure to answer this question speaks volumes and leads to the unfortunate and inexorable conclusion that Tri Star has much to hide."

Some sources intimately familiar with her finances tell TMZ ... they believe Britney's net worth -- estimated at $60 million -- should be 2 to 3 times more than that, and they attribute that shortfall to misappropriation by people associated with the conservatorship.

Rosengart's concern goes beyond money, though. He's also keyed in on the allegation Tri Star had a hand in spying on Britney by placing listening devices in her bedroom ... as reported in the most recent NY Times documentary about Brit and the conservatorship.

He claims that reporting is more than enough to warrant Britney's desire to comb through any and all Tri Star docs related to the alleged electronic surveillance.

A fight is brewing -- and maybe even a war -- between Britney Spears and her former business manager, who now says she had nothing to do with allegations of bugging Brit's bedroom or controlling her medical treatment.

Tri Star Sports and Entertainment Group -- run by Lou Taylor -- has just filed legal docs asking the judge in the conservatorship case to put the brakes on Britney's lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, who wants a full accounting over the last 13 years of Taylor's involvement. Rosengart has already said he believes money has been mishandled.

Taylor and co. say Rosengart should not be allowed to go back that far. They say Tri Star submitted regular accountings without any objection from Spears over the 11 years Taylor was involved in the conservatorship. Rosengart has said the whole deck was stacked against Britney and even her own lawyer at the time didn't protect her or her money.

Beyond that, Taylor's partner, Robin Greenhill, submitted a declaration saying "No one at Tri Star is aware of any hidden electronic surveillance device placed in Ms. Spears' bedroom."  She goes on to say, "No one at Tri Star has ever had any control over Ms. Spears' medical treatment."

What Greenhill did not address ... reports that she controlled Britney's ability to live the way she wants ... allegedly telling Spears on occasion she couldn't go on vacation or buy certain things because she reached her spending limit.

Britney has broken from Tri Star and is angry over the way Lou Taylor and co. handled her affairs.

Britney Spears could make more money than she ever did before if she decides to get back in front of crowds, but it's a double-edged sword ... so says Daymond John.

The "Shark Tank" star joined us Friday on "TMZ Live" and painted a picture of Britney's potential earnings if she reverses course on her feelings about performing.

Remember ... folks close to Britney have told us she might never take the stage again, no matter what shakes out with her conservatorship.

Daymond says Britney would be turning down a fortune in Las Vegas, or on the road, if she holds firm -- but he knows there are potentially serious drawbacks to her being back under the bright lights.

Daymond's making some good points -- there are a lot of things off the stage that come along with a Vegas residency, and they definitely take a toll on mental health ... obviously, an important factor for her.

Yella Beezy is in police custody in Texas, where he's been arrested on weapon and sexual assault charges ... TMZ has learned.

The rapper was busted Friday in Collin County, where he's currently in jail.

A law enforcement source tells TMZ … Beezy is behind bars after being booked on 3 different charges -- felony sexual assault, felony abandoned endangered child and misdemeanor unlawful carrying a weapon.

Yella Beezy is no stranger to getting in trouble in Texas ... this marks his third arrest in the Lone Star State this year alone.

TMZ broke the story ... YB was arrested back in August on weapons and drug charges, and the police say he was in possession of over 40 grams of a controlled substance plus a rifle and 4 handguns.

Nick Jonas says he's learning lots of new things from wife Priyanka Chopra ... and he's getting cultured on Indian holidays and traditions.

Nick and Priyanka celebrated Diwali -- India's festival of light -- at their Los Angeles home Thursday ... capping things off with a mini fireworks show by the pool.

NJ says he's sending love and light to all, and adds ... "my beautiful wife has introduced me to so many wonderful Indian holidays and traditions. My heart is so full to be able to share this with our friends and family."

Earlier in the day, Nick and Priyanka rang in Diwali morning with the ceremonial puja ... a ritual offering flowers to an image of a god.

As you can see, Nick and Priyanka were dressed in traditional Indian garb, and they look great.

Priyanka says of the ritual ... "With the blessings of Goddess Mahalakshmi we invite Her grace and abundance into our home."