DaBaby has been put in time out.
Unless you’ve been living under a rap rock, you may have heard that DaBaby has been called out by various notable stars such as Questlove, Elton John, Madonna (who has her own shit to be called out for, let’s not forget) and more for the homophobic and ignorant comments he made at Rolling Loud festival in Miami. After initially getting defensive and doubling down, the rapper did eventually issue some sort of an “apology,” albeit a half-ass one.
Last week, the 29-year-old artist was removed from the lineup of the 2021 Parklife Festival, located in Manchester, England, per Rolling Stone. According to TMZ, the rapper’s rep says that decision had nothing to do with his previous homophobic comments and that DaBaby actually pulled out of the festival months ago when events were being canceled due to COVID-19.
I guess he didn’t have much of an issue with possibly being among the Chicago-style deep-petri-dish that was Lollapalooza this past weekend since the only reason he didn’t perform on Sunday as scheduled was because the performance was canceled.
“Lollapalooza was founded on diversity, inclusivity, respect, and love,” the official account for the huge music festival posted on Twitter on Sunday. “With that in mind, DaBaby will no longer be performing at Grant Park tonight. Young Thug will now perform at 9:00pm on the Bud Light Seltzer Stage, and G Herbo will perform at 4:00pm on the T-Mobile Stage.”
DaBaby once said he needed some shit with a little bop in it, but it looks like he may need to be bopped in the head with some damn sense (and real consequences) after what he’s gotten himself into lately. After vrooming into the scene with his videogame bops and a contagious smile, the rapper has devolved into an abusive and homophobic disappointment wrapped in active misogynoir.
“I think that when we are ingesting music, art, content and it’s toxic in any way, that is indicative of the artist you are listening to,” Pose co-star Dyllón Burnside said in a recent conversation with GLAAD’s Head of Talent Anthony Allen Ramos. “That is where we have to start drawing the line and saying that this is toxic...the way that it bleeds over into all areas…[for example] the way that [DaBaby] talks about women. To the fans of DaBaby who are queer, who are HIV positive, I feel for you, I am sending my love to you and I hope you can reconcile your pain and the hurt you felt from his statements with your appreciation for his work. I hope that we get really clear on who the artists are that we want to support and what the music is that we are listening to that we are letting into our ears, into our minds and into our hearts, and the frequencies and the energies that we are receiving.”
That’s not all—on Monday, the Governors Ball in New York City (which is celebrating its 10th anniversary) posted an updated lineup flyer with DaBaby’s name removed. Per Rolling Stone, clicking on his artist page on the festival site results in an error message.
“Founders Entertainment does not and will not tolerate hate or discrimination of any kind,” the official statement read. “We welcome and celebrate the diverse communities that make New York City the greatest city in the world. Thank you to the fans who continue to speak up for what’s right. Along with you, we will continue to use our platform for good.”
Update: 8/2/2021, 2:09 p.m. ET: On Monday afternoon, DaBaby took to social media to post an apology, but not before offering a quick rant about people’s penchant to “demolish” folks before they have “the opportunity to grow, education and learn from [their] mistakes.” He also thanked those who reached out to him privately “to offer wisdom, education and resources.”
“I want to apologize to the LGBTQ+ community for the hurtful and triggering comments I made,” DaBaby wrote via Instagram, where he deactivated comments. “Again, I apologize for my misinformed comments about HIV/AIDS and I know education on this is important. Love to all. God bless.”