DaBaby is something of a controversial figure in the rap community but nothing stands out more than his beef with the LGBTQ+ community in 2021. While performing at Rolling Loud, DaBaby launched into a homophobic rant on stage. “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,” he told attendees. “Ladies, if your pussy smell like water, put your cellphone lighter up. Fellas, if you ain’t sucking dick in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up," the rapper told the crowd.
Days later, DaBaby appeared to double down on his comments. “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. The hell you talking about, n—as? Then I said if you ain’t sucking dick in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up. You know what my gay fans did? Put that motherfucking light up, n—a, ’cause my gay fans ain’t going for that. They got class. They ain’t sucking no dick in no parking lot.” While he later issued an apology, he then turned around and dropped a music video that included him using "AIDS" in a lyric and also a visual that read “My apologies for being me the same way you want the freedom to be you.”
DaBaby Admits He Should Have Handled Things Differently But Doesn't Denounce His Comments
Music professionals came out both in support of and opposition to DaBaby at the time of the controversy. While the likes of Boosie, T.I., and Nick Cannon defended the rapper, he was condemned by the likes of Dua Lipa, Demi Lovato, Elton John, QuestLove, and Madonna. DaBaby did eventually formally apologize on Instagram in early August, but fans noted that the apology was deleted less than a week later. Additionally, DaBaby was dropped from several festivals prior to his apology.
However, nearly two years later, DaBaby has once again spoken up about the controversy. Appearing on The Shop Uninterrupted, DaBaby was asked if he would handle the controversy differently if he could. "Absolutely," DaBaby began, "That's what came out my own mouth and said as of late, not even as of late, I would maybe handled it the way he handled it. I apologized but I didn't mean to apologize because I'm this type of person. I'm gonna fight to the tooth and nail, like if I, you know what I mean? My character and my intentions - that's something I am never going to let you make me out, I'm not a bad person. I'm unfaltering on that." While it is a sign of change in the rapper's mentality since 2021, his comments on The Shop weren't exactly a denouncement of his hateful comments in 2021.
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