Rap star DaBaby’s homophobic comments about HIV/AIDS, made during his performance at Rolling Loud in Miami on Sunday, have sparked widespread anger and condemnation over the rapper’s views towards the LGBTQ+ community.

DaBaby told the crowd at the festival: “If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that’ll make you die in two or three weeks, put your cellphone light up. Ladies, if your pussy smell like water, put your cellphone light up. Fellas, if you ain’t sucking dick in the parking lot, put your cellphone light up.”

Since then, several celebrities—including Dua Lipa and Lil Nas X’s father—have come out in support of the LGBTQ+ community, condemning DaBaby’s words.   

Dua Lipa, who worked with DaBaby on her hit single Levitating, has said in a series of Instagram stories that she does not support DaBaby in the comments he made about the LGBTQ+ community, or HIV/AIDS. She said:

“I’m surprised and horrified at DaBaby’s comments. I really don’t recognize this as the person I worked with. I know my fans know where my heart lies and that I stand 100% with the LGTBQ community. We need to come together to fight the stigma and ignorance around HIV/AIDS.”

Lil Nas X’s father has also condemned DaBaby’s misleading and offensive words about HIV/AIDS and the LGBTQ+ community generally, writing in an Instagram story: “Bruh sit down you had your time.” 

Other celebrities, including rapper T.I. have come out in defence of DaBaby’s actions. 

In a bizarre defence of the rapper, T.I. said:

“For instance, the Lil Nas X shit. The performances and video, man I got a lot of respect for bruh because he had the courage to live his truth, but that shit ain’t for me… Just can’t look at it… And I don’t want my children seeing it, either… If you have a Lil Nas X video, and him living his truth, you gone damn sure have people like DaBaby who are going to speak they truth. There ain’t nothing wrong with none of that. It ain’t got to be no hate, it’s all honesty.”

Despite receiving widespread backlash over his words and actions at Rolling Loud, DaBaby has continued to defend his behaviour, writing on Instagram that:

“What I do at a live show is for the audience at the live show. It’ll never translate correctly to somebody looking at a little five, six-second clip from their goddamn crib on their phone. It just don’t work like that.”