US Rapper DaBaby Issues Second Apology After Being Dropped From Festivals Over Inflammatory Remarks
© AP Photo / Charles Sykes
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The musician earlier came under fire after he made homophobic remarks during a performance at Florida’s Rolling Loud Festival that encouraged everyone except gay men and those affected by HIV/AIDS from raising their cellphones. The remarks drew widespread condemnation and have since seen the American rapper booted from festival lineups.
American rapper DaBaby issued a more formal apology toward the LGBTQ+ community on Monday after the musician continued to face backlash over offensive remarks that he made during a recent concert in Florida.
The apology statement, which was shared on Instagram and had comments deactivated, acknowledged that his remarks at the Rolling Loud Festival were “hurtful and triggering comments,” and that his statements were “misinformed.”
“I want to apologize to the LGBTQ+ community for the hurtful and triggering comments I made,” reads the statement. “Again, I apologize for my misinformed comments about HIV/AIDS and I know education on this is important.”
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Addressing the backlash he has faced from his peers and a bevy of critics, the rapper blasted those who called him out and stated that “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.”
The Monday statement came days after DaBaby initially stood by his comments, and had stated during an Instagram Live that his commentary was a “call to action” and not at all part of a wholly misinformed “rant.” It’s worth noting that he did incorrectly state during the incident that one could die from HIV/AIDS “in two to three weeks.”
However, as the backlash grew against DaBaby and prominent artists such as Elton John, QuestLove and Madonna called the musician out, he soon enough issued his first apology via Twitter.
At the time, he said that anyone who had been affected by HIV/AIDS “got the right to be upset,” adding that “what I said was insensitive even though I have no intentions on offending anybody.”
— DaBaby (@DaBabyDaBaby) July 27, 2021
“But the LGBT community... I ain’t trippin on y’all, do you. y’all business is y’all business,” he concluded that first apology, which did not magically make the situation any better.
In the days that followed, music festivals including Lollapalooza pulled DaBaby from their lineups and replaced him with other acts. In fact, the rapper’s Monday apology was submitted amid the decision to boot him from the performances at the 10th anniversary of the Governors Ball.
The criticism of DaBaby also comes amid backlash over his move to have Tory Lanez, a fellow rapper who was charged with assaulting Megan Thee Stallion in 2020, on stage with him at the Rolling Loud appearance.
