Ace Frehely referred to the recent tragedy at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival as a “Satanic ritual gone very wrong.”
The former Kiss guitarist voiced his opinions in a post to Facebook dated Nov. 12.
“In regards to what happened in Houston, TX… Our players go out to all the families who lost loved ones at the concert!” the rocker wrote. “Seems like it was a ‘Satanic Ritual’ gone very wrong! They’ll (sic) Be Hell to Pay! For everyone who let those kids die!”
The musician closed his thoughts by saying, “All people of every faith and religion should band together to stop this from ever happening again in America.”
As one would expect from such an inflammatory accusation, many fans were outraged by Frehley’s post. Some commenters who swore they’d no longer be fans of the rocker received replies seemingly from Frehley’s girlfriend, Lara Cove.
“Bye, better off without you… Thx for the support, but it was a satanic event… Do your homework on Travis!” read one such reply.
Though this message (and those like it) were posted from Cove’s account, Frehley has since claimed them as his own.
“On Nov. 13, I, Ace Frehley, was mistakenly responding to my fans’ comments, regarding the Astroworld concert in Houston, Texas, through my girlfriend’s (Lara Cove) Facebook profile,” the rocker confirmed. “I want to make it very clear that it was I who was making those comments, not she.”
The satanic ritual conspiracy theory is one of several baseless speculations which have circulated on the internet since the Astroworld tragedy on Nov. 5. A total of 10 attendees lost their lives as a result of injuries sustained at the concert when the crowd (estimated to be in excess of 50,000 people) surged towards the stage during Scott’s performance.
Music’s Worst Concert Accidents and Tragedies
The possibility for danger always lurks whenever large groups of people get together, and that’s especially true at concerts and festivals.