American rapper and songwriter, Da Baby got removed from the Sunday lineup of the Lallapalooza musical festival, following his comments at the Rolling Loud music festival on July 25, which were widely condemned as homophobic.
A statement tweeted from Lollapalooza's official Twitter handle read, "Lollapalooza was founded on diversity inclusivity, respect and love. With that in mind, DaBaby will no longer be performing at Grant Park tonight."
The statement also explained the new adjusted lineup, which included Young Thug taking over DaBaby's slot at 9 p.m. on the Bud Light Seltzer Stage, and G Herbo filling Young Thug's previous 4 p.m. performance time on the T-Mobile stage.
Earlier on Tuesday, DaBaby was also dropped from a benefit concert for the Working Families Party, which he was headlining alongside Saweetie and Wyclef Jean. "We have to hold people accountable and live to our values, which is why there is a change in our lineup," the Working Families Party stated.
During DaBaby's recent Rolling Loud performance, the rapper encouraged the audience to put their cell phone flashlights in the air if they "didn't show up today with HIV/AIDS or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that will make you die in two to three weeks," among further derogatory remarks about HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ+ people.
His comments quickly sparked backlash on social media, and DaBaby was pulled from his brand ambassador deal with Boohoo Man. His 'Levitating' collaborator, Dua Lipa, also spoke out against him, along with other big names like Elton John.
John, who is homosexual and a longtime HIV activist, took to Twitter and said "We've been shocked to read about the HIV misinformation and homophobic statements made at a recent DaBaby show. This fuels stigma and discrimination and is the opposite of what our world needs to fight the AIDS epidemic"
Madonna also shared her "message" to DaBaby on social media, posting a video of his remarks on her Instagram account and wrote,"If you're going to make hateful remarks to the LGBTQ+ community about HIV/AIDS then know your facts."
She further added, "After decades of hard won scientific research-- there are now life saving medicines available to children born with HIV, to people who contract HIV through blood transfusions, dirty needles or exchange of bodily fluids. These new ARV's can keep a person with AIDS alive for the rest of their lives!!! AID's is not transmitted by standing next to someone in a crowd."
Later on Twitter, DaBaby admitted that his remarks were "insensitive," but also suggested that the comments had been "digested" wrong in another tweet, following with statements like "Apologies for being me." Many have said his responses fall well short of being a sincere apology.
As per Variety, DaShawn Usher, GLAAD's Associate Director of Communities of Color, on Wednesday, said, "The rhetoric that DaBaby used is inaccurate, hurtful, and harmful to the LGBTQ community and the estimated 1.2 million Americans living with HIV. It is critical that DaBaby and his fans learn that people living with HIV today, when on effective treatment, lead long and healthy lives and cannot transmit HIV."
Usher further added,"While DaBaby has made haphazard attempts to 'apologize,' actions need to be taken for full accountability and changes to do better in the future. It further confirms what GLAAD reported last year in the State of HIV Stigma Study that stigma and misinformation around HIV is widespread, and there is much work to be done to educate the public, including entertainers."
( With inputs from ANI )
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