Khloe Kardashian describes fatal Astroworld tragedy as ‘drama’ on new podcast

Back in January, Kim and Khloe Kardashian were accused of Photoshopping images of their daughters at Disneyland by a fan on TikTok. Months later, Khloe has spoken about the altered image.

On the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, mother-of-one Khloe said that she allowed Kim to cover over niece Stormi Webster's face with a photo of her daughter, True Thompson, 4.

Stormi, 4, is the daughter of sister Kylie Jenner, and the post was shared in the months after the fatal crowd crush at Astroworld Festival, run by Jenner's partner and Stormi's father, Travis Scott.

The Photoshopped picture shared by Kim Kardashian in January, showing Chicago, left, and an image of True's face over Stormi's body:

However, on the podcast, released on May 24, Khloe described the November 5 crowd crush, which lead to the death of 10 people, aged between 9 and 27, as "drama".

The description came as Khloe was explaining to host Amanda Hirsch why an edited image of True had been shared.

"When it happened, [Kim] sent me a photo of True and Chi [Kim's daughter, Chicago, 4,] ... I was kind of multitasking and then I looked back and was like, 'Wait, is she wearing Minnie Mouse ears ... You took her to Disney?' because I would not let her go until I was taking her and I was waiting for her fourth birthday because I was not taking her in the thick of Covid," Khloe said.

True turned four on April 12, four months after the image was posted on January 1.

"I was like, 'Who would not tell me my kid went to Disneyland?' No-one asked me for permission, nothing. And Kim was like, 'Oh, you believed it?' But I wasn't thinking," Khloe explained. "[Kim] was like, 'Oh, I just need it for my grid.' So I was like, 'OK it's fine, post it.' I didn't care, I thought she looked so cute... I did not think anyone would pay this much attention to it."

Presenter Hirsch then suggests that Jenner didn't want Kim to post the photo of Stormi because she was "not as cute as she could be that day". But Khloe said that True had been Photoshopped over Stormi because Jenner didn't want the photo of her daughter at Disneyland to go on Instagram.

"She just didn't want a lot of... I think it was a time of drama, or something, so she didn't want Stormi out there and wanted to protect her. I get that."

The Kardashian/Jenner Disney Photoshopped images explained

Kim posted images that showed her daughter Chicago with True on her Instagram grid on January 1.

Kardashian fans are famously eagle-eyed and almost immediately Instagram account @ky.storm.lovely questioned the photos. They suggested that the photo of True's face had been shared by Khloe previously and said the family had been seen in the same clothes at Disneyland on October 19.

The @ky.storm.lovely post questioning the image shared by Kim:

Months later, Khloe said she was taking her daughter to Disneyland for the first time on April 13. In an Instagram video, Khloe said: "This is True’s first time to Disneyland. We’re going on [the] It’s a Small World [ride]."

The question of Photoshopping their children then came up again, and on April 27 Kim tried to explain the decision to alter photos of the children, saying it needed "some serious explaining". At the time she was also being accused of editing boyfriend Pete Davidson's jawline and her own stomach in Instagram posts.

"OK so you know I am all about my aesthetic and my IG grid is pink and blue lately. Isn't it so cute and well planned out!" Kim wrote.

"The original pics were Stormi! However, I asked @kyliejenner if I could post then and she said she wasn't really feeling posting at the moment so I respect that. But it wasn't going to mess up my IG feed. Chi was wearing pink and it matched perfectly.

"You know how much a good aesthetic means to my soul and I will be dammed if Kylie will ruin that for me and mess up my IG grid. So Thank you True for taking one for the team."

What happened at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival?

Scott's Astroworld Festival was the site of a deadly crowd crush on November 5, killing 10 people, the youngest being Ezra Blount, who had been in a medically induced coma from injuries sustained at the event. More than 300 people were treated for injuries.

The event takes place annually at NRG Park in Houston, Texas. It is run by Houston rapper Scott, born Jacques Bermon Webster II, and is named after his 2018 album of the same name.

Including Ezra, the names of those who died have been confirmed as John Hilgert, 14; Brianna Rodriguez, 16; Jacob Jurinek, 21; Franco Patino, 21; Axel Acosta, 21; Bharti Shahani, 22; Rudy Pena, 23; Madison Dubiski, 23; and Danish Baig, 27.

The Astroworld crowd was made up of more than 50,000 people. Authorities confirmed that the tragedy struck after a “crowd surge”, which forced organisers to stop the show. It was declared a “mass casualty incident” on the night.

Earlier in the day, festivalgoers rushed one of the entrances to the NRG Park grounds. Video footage shows crowds of people bypassing security, rushing into the venue, hopping turnstiles and knocking down security barriers. It is thought that much of the crowd entered the grounds without tickets.

“Travis Scott himself did stop the show several times to point out people near the front who were in distress or needed help and he would get security to come and help them,” Joey Guerra, a Houston music critic told BBC Radio 5. “I don’t think he was aware of the extent of what was going on.”

Houston's fire chief Samuel Pena said: “The crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage, and that caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries.

“People began to fall out, become unconscious, and it created additional panic.”