DaBaby has been feeling the pressure after making homophobic comments recently at the Rolling Loud festival in Miami. He has now released a statement to apologize for his remarks.
“I want to apologize to the LGBTQ+ community for the artful and triggering comments I made,” he said. “Again, I apologize for my misinformed comments about HIV/AIDS and I know education on this is important.”
He addressed the backlash on social media and thanked people who came forward to talk to him “with kindness.”
“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,” he said. “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.”
During his Rolling Loud set, DaBaby said: “If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases, that’ll make you die in two to three weeks, then put your cellphone lighter up … Fellas, if you ain’t sucking d–k in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up.”
Since then, he chose to double down on his comments. The rapper took to Instagram Live to claim that straight and gay fans alike enjoyed the show, adding that people shouldn’t criticize if they weren’t in attendance.
“I wasn’t going on a rant. That’s called a call to action. That’s what that’s called, ’cause I’m a live performer,” he said. “I’m the best live performer.”
Ignoring the backlash, he released a new song and video called ‘Giving What It’s Supposed To Give‘ last week.
DaBaby’s statement comes after he was dropped from multiple festivals: Governors Ball in New York City and Day N Vegas in Las Vegas announced that he will no longer perform. He was dropped from Lollapalooza at the last minute, and he’s also no longer playing the Parklife Festival in Manchester, England in September.