HOUSTON — When Hulu users opened their app Wednesday night, they might have noticed a new special on the Astroworld festival.
It didn't last long.
Hulu quickly took down video, dubbed "Astroworld: Concert From Hell," after a social media backlash, as people questioned why they'd post Astroworld content before a full investigation has been completed.
But the video wasn't a documentary series. It was a 50-minute news piece produced by ABC 13 in Houston.
The video explored what happened on the night of the Astroworld tragedy, when 10 people died in a crowd surge during Travis Scott's concert.
The ABC 13 production was in-depth reporting that detailed the initial chaos when gates opened to the crowd surge.
Through Hulu's partnership with Disney, Hulu posted the piece to its app, featuring the "Concert from Hell" title and an image of Scott performing in front of flames.
The Hulu homepage, captured in a screenshot by the Twitter account No Jumper, also gave a description of the video, and noted, "1 season available (1 episode)."
The presentation apparently gave Hulu users -- and those reacting on social media -- the impression that a documentary series about the tragedy had already been produced, just weeks after the event happened.
Replies to No Jumper accused Hulu of working too quick, jumping to conclusions and making "a move to scramble for viewership at the expense of a tragedy," as one Twitter user put it.
While Hulu took the video down, ABC 13 in Houston still has the piece on its website, and it didn't appear to get much negative reaction when it was initially posted on the station's social media in November.
The Hulu backlash came as victims' families are still dealing with the tragedy. This week, the family of Ezra Blount, a 9-year-old boy who died in the crowd surge, declined Scott's offer to cover funeral costs.
The attorney for Blount's family penned a heartbreaking letter, obtained by Rolling Stone, to Scott's lawyers, calling Blount's death "a faucet of unimaginable that has no off handle."