In a recent social media post, US rapper DaBaby has issued an apology for the ignorant and homophobic comments he made last week during an onstage performance at Rolling Loud Festival in Miami.
A video of DaBaby’s speech went viral, triggering a wave of backlash on social media. In the clip, he is seen onstage making insulting comments towards women, gay men, and people living with HIV/AIDS to his audience. Festivals have dropped DaBaby from their lineups as a consequence of his actions.
The apology post opens with the sentence “Social media moves so fast that people want to demolish you before you even have the opportunity to grow, educate, and learn from your mistakes.
“As a man who has had to make his own way from very difficult circumstances, having people I know publicly working against me—knowing that what I needed was education on these topics and guidance—has been challenging,” he continued.
“I appreciate the many people who came to me with kindness, who reached out to me privately to offer wisdom, education and resources. That’s what I needed and it was received.”
“Again, I apologize for my misinformed comments about HIV/AIDS and I know education on this is important. Love to all. God bless. -DaBaby,” he said in conclusion of the post.
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Before releasing this apology, DaBaby addressed the controversy in a brief visual statement at the end of his self-directed video for his new song ‘Giving What It’s Supposed to Give’ last Wednesday.
The video deepened the backlash, as it ends with the message “Don’t Fight Hate With Hate” in rainbow lettering and “My apologies for being me, the same way you want the freedom to be you,” which many saw as a rebuke instead of an apology.
Dua Lipa also recently came forward with a statement in which she said she was ‘horrified’ over DaBaby’s speech. The two had recently collaborated on Dua’s hit single, ‘Levitating’.
Pop music legends Elton John, founder of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and Madonna, a longtime LGBTQ+ rights activist and advocator of HIV/AIDS research, called out the DaBaby for spreading misinformation and contributing to the stigma surrounding it.
(1/5) We've been shocked to read about the HIV misinformation and homophobic statements made at a recent DaBaby show. This fuels stigma and discrimination and is the opposite of what our world needs to fight the AIDS epidemic.
The facts are: pic.twitter.com/MqCv3vWiz2
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) July 28, 2021
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