Fortnite Offers Refunds Amid D4vd’s Arrest in 14-Year-Old Girl’s Murder Investigation, Music Remains in Game

Fortnite has a history of modifying or removing cosmetics due to controversies, and given its penchant for integrating elements from pop culture, it’s not surprising that some contentious content has made its way into the game. Currently, it appears that Epic Games has no plans to pull pop artist David “D4vd” Burke’s music from Fortnite, despite him facing serious allegations related to the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

To catch you up, Hernandez’s body was discovered in a Tesla that was registered to Burke in Los Angeles last September. Although Burke was not in the city at the time, investigations revealed that he had a prior relationship with Hernandez. He was named a suspect in November, and an arrest was made on April 16. The details surrounding the case are quite unsettling, and there are comprehensive reports available for those interested in learning more.

Burke was included in Fortnite last May as part of a cosmetic bundle that featured an emote set to his song “Feel It.” According to Fortnite’s social media updates, a patch is scheduled for April 28 that will enable players who purchased these cosmetics to request a self-service refund directly in the game. This is just the first of several changes Epic plans to implement over time. However, despite numerous fan requests for the complete removal of these items, it seems the company is opting not to do so right away. They have previously demonstrated their ability to remove content, such as when they took down a Peacemaker emote last year due to concerns about its potential reference to a Nazi symbol.

We understand the concerns and are rolling out a series of changes. The first will be available on Tuesday, April 28, allowing anyone who bought these items to get an immediate self-service refund. Currently, players who request refunds for…

We’ve reached out to Epic for further comments, but they stated they had “nothing additional to share” beyond the information provided in the tweet.