DaBaby Apologizes for Homophobic Comments After Getting Dropped from a Number of Major Music Festivals

DaBaby finally gives a fleshed out apology for his homophobic rant after being removed from headlining spots at Lollapalooza, Governors Ball, and Day N Vegas.

After being pulled from three major festivals, DaBaby has apologized for his homophobic rant at Rolling Loud Miami last weekend.

In an Instagram message, DaBaby wrote: “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 know education on this is important. ”

Here is the full message:

The “again” DaBaby is referring to is the fact that he already tried to apologize last week but the messaging was confusing, and, frankly, he only made things worse. There was an odd Twitter rant then the release of the “Giving What It’s Supposed To Give” video which featured this message in rainbow font: “Don’t fight hate with hate… My apologies for being me the same way you want the freedom to be you.”

This new statement comes after a hectic weekend for DaBaby. First he was kicked out of the headlining spot at Lollapalooza (making him the only human being not to attend the festival.) The Charlotte rapper was then axed by Governors Ball. The festival announced DaBaby’s dismissal in a note posted to Twitter Monday morning (see below.) “Founders Entertainment does not and will not tolerate hate or discrimination of any kind,” the festival wrote. “We welcome and celebrate the diverse communities that make New York City the greatest city in the world. Thank you to the fans who continue to speak up for what is right. Along with you, we will continue to use our platform for good,” the statement concludes. A replacement for the rapper will be announced in the weeks ahead.

Soon after that, the Day N Vegas announced that they were also scrapping DaBaby from the lineup, adding Roddy Ricch to the lineup.

Even after the new apology, festivals continued to drop DaBaby. Austin City Limits, iHeartRadio, and Music Midtown Music Festivals all announced that they were dropping DaBaby from their perspective lineups.

The backlash against the artist’s onstage comments has been swift. Within just hours of a clip from the Rolling Loud performance beginning to circulate, music icons and former collaborators condemned the rapper’s antics. “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. We need to come together to fight the stigma and ignorance around HIV/AIDS,” wrote Dua Lipa in an Instagram story. “This fuels stigma and discrimination and is the opposite of what our world needs to fight the AIDS epidemic,” said Elton John in a tweet. “I’m not trine be all performative smurf & create a social flogging or start some click bait headlines. That’s missing the point. But right is right & his actions are wrong,” wrote Questlove on Instagram. The Roots’ drummer’s critique garnered a response from DaBaby, who claimed he didn’t know who Questlove was despite having performed together only two years prior.

This story was updated on August 3, 2021.