Elton John And Madonna Weigh In On DaBaby’s Homophobic Remarks
The entertainers spoke out to condemn the rapper’s comments at the Rolling Loud music festival in Miami.
In the age of the incomparable talent of Lil Nas X and the totally adorable JoJo Siwa, you’d think these types of statements would be few and far between. But no. During a performance by DaBaby, the rapper made false and gross comments about gay men and HIV, in addition to making snide remarks about women (which we won’t repeat here).
The backlash was swift. (Although is it fair to call it backlash when people are simply correcting harmful and defamatory language? Perhaps that’s a question for another time).
Dua Lipa, who collaborated with DaBaby for her hit “Levitating“, quickly denounced his hurtful remarks. During an Instagram Live Tuesday she said she was “surprised and horrified at DaBaby’s comments.”
“I really don’t recognize this as the person I worked with. I know my fans know where my heart lies and that I stand 100% with the LGBTQ community,” she posted. “We need to come together to fight the stigma and ignorance around HIV/AIDS.”
Elton John, who is gay and a longtime LGBTQ+ activist, posted on Instagram that “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,” he wrote. “HIV has affected over 70 million people globally: men, women, children, and the most vulnerable people in our communities.”
Madonna also posted about DaBaby on social media, posting a video of his remarks on her Instagram account and writing “If you’re going to make hateful remarks to the LGBTQ+ community about HIV/AIDS then know your facts.”
“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,” she wrote. “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.”
Demi Lovato, who recently publicly shared that they are nonbinary, shared a post from makeup artist and activist Matt Bernstein about the danger of DaBaby’s comments on their Instagram account. They went on to ask fans to stream the original version of “Levitating” — the one without DaBaby.
DaBaby seems to have deliberately missed the point of the outcry, posting the following on Instagram.
“NO WEAPON FORMED,” he captioned the video in a seeming reference to the Bible verse Isaiah 54:17, which states “no weapon formed against thee shall prosper.” The phrase is often used as a deflector to bounce criticism away from the offender.
“This how I bob n weave anything sent to destroy me,” the caption reads. “Check my resume and sit back.😴 #MySoulAintForSale.”
Musician and filmmaker Questlove posted on Instagram an updated dream list of whom he would have perform an updated “Summer of Soul” festival…with DaBaby’s name crossed off the list.
“And now I’m updating my list ——because it’s 2021 & fuck the bullshit,” Questlove wrote. “[…] right is right & his actions are wrong. Somebody Gotta say it: Homophobia/Transphobia/Xenophobia/Misogyny/Racism——this should go w/o saying is morally wrong. & not that fake hiding behind religion holier than thou morally wrong.”
