Angel Reese Under Fire For Promoting Podcast With DaBaby Following His Infamous Homophobic Rant

Angel Reese has again evoked strong reactions from people, this time for promoting an upcoming interview with DaBaby, a rapper who was canceled in 2021 after making controversial comments about women and members of the LGBTQ+ community during Rolling Loud.

Over the weekend, Angel Reese and her podcast team, @AngelReeseShow on X, formerly Twitter, faced a wave of backlash after sharing that they'd be filming an upcoming episode of her show, "Unapologetically Angel," with the "SHAKE SUMN" performer.

Since launching her podcast in September 2024, Reese has interviewed several high-profile guests, including Shaquille O'Neal, Lisa Leslie, Lonzo Ball, GloRilla, Latto, and more.

Based on a post that has since been deleted, Reese and her team were preparing for an episode with the controversial rapper DaBaby. In the picture, the WNBA star and her social media team asked her followers to send in questions for the performer, whose real name is Jonathan Kirk.

Immediately after sharing the post on her social media feeds, the Chicago Sky rookie was met with more resistance than she likely expected.

Many users questioned why the 22-year-old, who has a diverse fanbase, would align herself with someone who was canceled for making deeply offensive remarks about multiple communities.

"Who is advising Angel Reese on this podcast guest?" someone asked on X. "Cause honestly, why in the entire world would anyone, especially women, whom I thought was her audience, want to hear from DaBaby?"

A second user clearly agreed and slammed Reese for inviting "known rampant homophone and misogynist DaBaby" on her podcast. "He has made disgusting remarks about gays and HIV," they continued.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the situation, DaBaby was a rising star in 2020, appearing on popular songs with Jack Harlow and Dua Lipa. However, his light began to dim after he was captured making problematic comments about the LGBTQ+ community and women during his performance at the Rolling Loud festival in 2021.

“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,” DaBaby told the audience.

“Ladies, if your p—y smell like water, put your cellphone lighter up. Fellas, if you ain’t sucking d-ck in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up," he continued.

Although his comments were made nearly five years ago, people haven't forgotten, and Reese's partnership with him clearly threw many of her fans for a loop.

"The fact that she thought it was cool to begin with is a side eye for me," someone wrote. "Because of all people—him—and she's supposed to be friends with [Megan Thee Stallion]."

"Angel Reese's character has been hanging out with DDG and transphobes ... what makes you think she cares about DaBaby being a homophobic zionist?" another person asked.

After DaBaby's comments were shared online, the Cleveland-born rapper found himself at the center of a firestorm he likely didn't anticipate. However, some famous faces, including rapper T.I., were happy to defend him.

“If you gonna have the Lil Nas X video and him living his truth, you gonna d-mn sure have people like DaBaby who gonna speak their truth,” he said. “Ain’t nothing wrong with none of it; it ain’t got to be no hate—it’s all honesty. Everybody living in their truth.”

DaBaby also doubled down on his stance and told his detractors to "shut the f-ck up" after the negative attention.

“My gay fans, they take care of themselves. They ain’t no nasty gay n—as. See what I’m saying? They ain’t no junkies in the street," he continued. "Then I said if you ain’t sucking d-ck in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up. You know what my gay fans did? Put that motherf-cking light up, n—a, ’cause my gay fans ain’t going for that. They got class. They ain’t sucking no d-ck in no parking lot.”

Dua Lipa, who initially released a version of her popular song "Levitating" with DaBaby, also spoke out about his comments and condemned him before saying she didn't "recognize this as the person I worked with."

She continued and reminded her fans that she was in complete support of the LGBTQ+ community and that she was committed to helping change the "stigma and ignorance" surrounding HIV/AIDS.

It's unclear if Reese will still sit down with DaBaby for an episode of her podcast.

At the time of this publication, the posts that promoted his appearance have since been deleted, and no one from Reese's team has commented on the negative feedback.

A social media user pointed out the backlash and chastised Reese for not standing her ground.

"Angel Reese allowing herself to be bullied into pulling her episode with DaBaby is lame [as f-ck]," they commented.

Aside from her working relationship with DaBaby, people have been talking about Reese lately because of her comments about WNBA players potentially sitting out of a future season if they aren't paid more money.

During a conversation she had with Dijonai Carrington of the Dallas Wings, the LSU alum revealed she and others could be "sitting out" if the league "don't give us what we want."

Specific fake news social media accounts, which, by the way, thrive on spreading misinformation, created a lie that Reese said she should be paid as much as her NBA counterparts, which caused her to slam them for creating fake quotes for attention.

"For somebody they 'hate' so much, literally be having them so riled up," Reese wrote. "Having to tell lies for engagement is crazyyyy work."