A major national music festival has broken its silence on why it quietly dropped rising singer d4vd from its star-studded lineup, days after human remains found in his Tesla were identified as a teenage girl who went missing last year.

Spilt Milk removed the artist from their website last week, around the same time as his remaining shows on his US tour and upcoming dates on d4vd’s European tour were removed from ticketing websites. 

In a statement today, organisers confirmed d4vd will not perform at their event this year due to the “unfolding story” he has been linked to overseas.

“Last week we removed d4vd from our website and marketing out of respect for the unfolding story,” they said.

“We can now confirm d4vd will not perform at Spilt Milk and we are working on a replacement booking which we’ll announce as soon as it’s finalised.” 

d4vd has also cancelled all his upcoming shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in December. 

Human remains were found inside a Tesla at a tow lot in Hollywood on September 8.

US media reported that the vehicle was registered to 20-year-old d4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office has since confirmed the “severely decomposed” remains belonged to 15-year-old Celeste Rivas.

“She appears to have been deceased inside the vehicle for an extended period of time before being found,” officials said.

Rivas was last seen in Lake Elsinore in April 2024, about 95 kilometres south-east of downtown Los Angeles.

She was 13 at the time. 

d4vd has not been arrested or charged over her disappearance or death, and his representatives have told NBC that he is cooperating with authorities.

The Houston-born artist, who shot to popularity after his hit song Romantic Homicide went viral on TikTok, had been on tour for his first album Withered when news of the human remains broke.

Spilt Milk’s comments sections ahead of today’s statement have been filled with fans questioning why d4vd was still on the line-up and whether he would be dumped. 

Spilt Milk is just months out from the start of their touring music festival, which will kick off in Ballarat on December 6, followed by Perth and Canberra, before finishing on the Gold Coast on December 14.

This year’s music festival has gained quite a lot of buzz for its stellar line-up and features the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Doechii, Dominic Fike, Schoolboy Q, Skin on Skin and Sombr.

– With Associated Press