Rapper DaBaby is offering a second apology after making comments about HIV/AIDS which he now understands were “misinformed and hurtful.”
The ‘Levitating’ rapper issued the apology after his headlining sets at Lollapalooza and the Governors Ball Festival were canceled with 24 hours of each other following the scandal. As you know, DaBady stunned many of his fans spewing an offensive on-stage rant about the LGBTQ community and the virus during the Rolling Loud Festival.
“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 wrote. “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 an education on these topics and guidance — has been challenging. 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,” his statement began.
DaBaby: I Want To Apologize For My Hurtful, Triggering Comments
He continued, “I want to apologize to the LGBTQ+ community for the hurtful and triggering comments I made. Again, I apologize for my misinformed comments about HIV/AIDS and I knew education on this is important. Love to all. God bless. – DaBaby.”
As we reported, during the recent performance the rapper encouraged the audience to put up their cell phone flashlights in the air if they “didn’t show up today with HIV/AIDS or any of the deadly sexually transmitted diseases that will make you die in two to three weeks.”
Almost immediately, the rapper received huge backlash for the comments including his ‘Leviatiging’ collaborator Dua Lipa, who spoke out against him. GLAAD’s Associate Director of Communities Of Color issued a statement last week, saying “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.”
Immediate Backlash…
Adding, “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 are widespread, and there is much work to be done to educate the public, including entertainers.”
Following the onstage comments, DaBady attempted to deflect the reaction from many by saying the comments had been “digested” wrong and only apologized for “being me.” Until today, many believed his statements had fallen short of a true apology.
The rapper removed the comment on the latest Instagram post, and it’s unclear if he will be allowed back into the canceled festivals.
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