DaBaby Receives Invitation For Private Meeting With ELEVEN HIV/AIDS Organizations

Rapper DaBaby just received an olive branch from eleven of the top HIV/AIDS organizations, offering a private meeting to educate him on the facts of the disease.

The 'Levitating' rapper has been highly criticized for his comments made at the Rolling Loud Festival which were considered homophobic. As we reported, in the days following the incident, DaBaby has been dropped from at least 5 of his upcoming concerts and festivals.

Now, a group comprised of 11 organizations has come forward with an open letter, offering to educate him specifically on HIV/AIDS in hopes he can pass the information onto his fans. As you know, DaBaby was blasted for his onstage statements including, having fans hold up their cellphone flashlights if they “didn’t show up today with HIV/AIDS, any of the deadly sexually transmitted diseases that will make you die in two to three weeks.”

According to the letter, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, the group says they lead the fight to prevent HIV, especially in the LGBTQ and black communities in the United States.

We, the undersigned, represent organizations leading the fight to prevent HIV and provide care and treatment for people living with HIV, especially Black LGBTQ people across the Southern United States. We heard your inaccurate and harmful comments at Rolling Loud and have read your Instagram apology. However, at a time when HIV continues to disproportionately impact Black Americans and queer and transgender people of color, a dialogue is critical. We must address the miseducation about HIV, expressed in your comments, and the impact it has on various communities.

2021 marks the 40th year of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the greatest obstacles in our work to end HIV are the compounded stigmas attached to anti-Blackness, living with HIV, misogyny, and anti-LGBTQ attitudes and stereotypes, all of which are fueled by misinformation. Fear and stigma keep people, particularly Black Americans, from accessing HIV prevention or care that White Americans have historically accessed and continue to access more easily. We believe you now have an opportunity to not just move past this unfortunate incident, but to use your platform and celebrity to heal not harm.

We believe that anyone can be an HIV advocate by amplifying: how there is medication (PrEP) that can prevent people from getting HIV with one pill a day, how routine treatment stops the virus from being passed on by people living with HIV, how people receiving HIV care can survive and thrive while living with it, and how open and empathetic conversations eliminate stigma. You can be a powerful and influential voice, especially across your home base in the South, where the Black community’s needs are notoriously under-represented across every public spectrum. We encourage you to share this information with your fans and followers and become an agent of truth and change.

Music artists have historically led the way to lift up an understanding of HIV and accelerate LGBTQ acceptance. Several artists and platforms have spoken up against you. While we appreciate their stand, we also invite them to take action and to do their part to end HIV by supporting organizations like ours serving people who are Black, LGBTQ, and/or living with HIV.

As mentioned in your latest apology, education is important. We agree. GLAAD and Gilead Science’s 2020 State of HIV Stigma Study found that 90% of Americans believe “there is stigma around HIV,” that “people are quick to judge those with HIV,” and “people make assumptions when someone is tested for HIV.” There were a significant number of people (40%) who did not know that HIV can be treated. Nearly 60% wrongfully believe it is “important to be careful around people living with HIV to avoid catching it.”

It's unclear if DaBaby will accept the Invitation, so far he has not responded.