By: Natasha Archary
On Sunday, US rapper DaBaby made some disturbing and stigmatizing homophobic comments while on-stage. His comments angered many artists, fans and the LGBTIQ+ community for labelling homosexual men as promiscuous, dirty and HIV+.
In response to the backlash he received, DaBaby explained what his comments meant and tweeted that what he said was insensitive.
Anybody who done ever been effected by AIDS/HIV y’all got the right to be upset, what I said was insensitive even though I have no intentions on offending anybody. So my apologies 🙏🏾
But the LGBT community… I ain’t trippin on y’all, do you. y’all business is y’all business.
— DaBaby (@DaBabyDaBaby) July 27, 2021
However, his ‘apology’ did not go down well with many in the industry, including Elton John who said he was shocked by the rapper’s misinformation about HIV which was inflammatory, fuelling stigma and discrimination. The singer also shared some facts about HIV and said homophobia had no place in the music industry.
DaBaby’s apology was considered a poor attempt, especially after his new video for “Giving What It’s Supposed to Give.”
In the video, he holds up a sign that reads “AIDS” and at the end of the clip the words “Don’t Fight Hate With Hate” appear in rainbow colours. Underneath that, his pseudo apology reads, “My apologies for being me the same way you want the freedom to be you.”
The rapper has since been dropped by online fashion retailer Boohoo, who endorsed him. DaBaby doesn’t seem phased by their actions and tweeted that brands who like to profit from artist’s influence can keep their money.
& for any brands, networks, or artists that like to profit off of black rappers influence on the culture, without understanding it or having the patience to deal with what comes with the position we play in our culture.
Keep yo money next time
us “NIGGAS” human too.#GodBless— DaBaby (@DaBabyDaBaby) July 27, 2021
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