KISS guitarist Ace Frehley promoted the baseless conspiracy theory that the Astroworld tragedy was a satanic ritual

• KISS guitarist Ace Frehley promoted the conspiracy theory that Astroworld was a satanic ritual.
• 10 people have died as a result of the Travis Scott concert.

KISS guitarist Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley promoted a baseless conspiracy theory that the Astroworld tragedy was a satanic ritual after the claim spread on social media.

10 people have died after attending Travis Scott's Astroworld festival in Houston on November 5 when a crowd surge during the rapper's set crushed concertgoers. In the wake of the tragedy, posts propagating the baseless conspiracy theory have amassed millions of views and tens of thousands of likes on social media platforms, including TikTok and YouTube.

Frehley promoted the conspiracy theory in a Facebook post on Friday.

"Our prayers go out to all the families who lost loved ones at the concert!" Frehley, the 70-year-old American musician known as "The Spaceman" who co-founded the rock band in 1973, told his 659,000 followers. "Seems like it was a 'Satanic Ritual' gone very wrong!" He added that people of every faith and religion "should band together to stop this from ever happening again in America."

The post featured a picture of a single leg wearing a bright red sock that says "NOT TODAY SATAN" in black font. The post, which is still available to view as of Monday afternoon, has generated over 4,300 likes, 180 shares, and 640 comments.

One of the top comments on the post refuted Frehley's speculation.

The phrase "Astroworld sacrifice" was reportedly trending on Facebook on November 8 with over 39,000 users talking about it, according to a screenshot posted to Twitter by Shayan Sardarizadeh, a BBC disinformation researcher. Facebook has made efforts to crack down on misinformation, particularly related to COVID-19 vaccines, in the last year.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Widespread outcry and baseless conspiracy theories around satanic rituals — rituals that involve satanic themes or satanic worship — have existed for decades, dating back to at least the "Satanic Panic" craze of the 1980s, when some people circulated false claims that children were being abused in mass satanic rituals around the United States. The panic also involved people trying to censor heavy metal music because they falsely said it was causing satanic violence in the country, according to MEL.

KISS, Frehley's band, has experimented with satanic themes, Insider reported. The band has sparked backlash and moral panic before. In 1977, the group collaborated with Stan Lee of Marvel Comics to produce a magazine-sized comic with red ink that reportedly contained blood drawn from the band members.

Frehley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.