DaBaby dropped as Lollapalooza headliner following homophobic comments

DaBaby has been dropped as headliner of Lollapalooza tonight (August 1) following homophobic comments he made at Rolling Loud Miami last weekend.

The North Carolina rapper (real name Jonathan Kirk) drew criticism for controversial comments he made surrounding homosexuality and HIV/AIDS onstage at the festival on Sunday (July 25).

“If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that’ll make you die in two or three weeks, put your cellphone light up,” he could be heard saying in footage from his set.

He added: “Ladies, if your pussy smell like water, put your cellphone light up. Fellas, if you ain’t sucking dick in the parking lot, put your cellphone light up.”

DaBaby also claimed HIV will “make you die in two or three weeks”.

The rapper was supposed to be headlining the final day of Chicago’s Lollapalooza tonight on the Bud Light Seltzer stage, however organisers have now issued a statement revealing that DaBaby has been dropped from the line-up following his comments.

“Lollapalooza was founded on diversity, inclusivity, respect, and love. With that in mind, DaBaby will no longer be performing at Grant Park tonight,” their statement read.

Instead, Young Thug will now take DaBaby’s place, moving across from the T-Mobile stage to headline the Bud Light Seltzer stage. G Herbo has been brought in to fill Young Thug’s slot on the T-Mobile stage which is set to be headlined by Foo Fighters.

Lollapalooza was founded on diversity, inclusivity, respect, and love. With that in mind, DaBaby will no longer be performing at Grant Park tonight. Young Thug will now perform at 9:00pm on the Bud Light Seltzer Stage, and G Herbo will perform at 4:00pm on the T-Mobile Stage. pic.twitter.com/Mx4UiAi4FW

— Lollapalooza (@lollapalooza) August 1, 2021

Multiple artists and organisations criticised DaBaby for his comments after they were first made. Elton John – who founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation charity in 1992 – took to Instagram to condemn his statements, saying they “fuel stigma and discrimination.”

HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust also denounced his comments, saying that they “perpetuate HIV-related stigma and discrimination, as well as spreading misinformation about HIV.”

Dua Lipa – whose 2020 ‘Levitating’ remix features a verse from DaBaby – has said she is “surprised and horrified” by the rapper’s comments.

“I really don’t recognise this as the person I worked with,” she said in a post to her Instagram Story. “I know my fans know where my heart lies and that I stand 100 per cent with the LGTBQ community. We need to come together to fight the stigma and ignorance around HIV/AIDS.”

The rapper defended his actions in a series of 19 videos in his Instagram Stories, saying: “What I do at a live show is for the audience at the live show. It’ll never translate correctly to somebody looking at a little five, six-second clip from their goddamn crib on their phone.

“Because, regardless of what y’all motherfuckers are talking about and how the internet twisted up my motherfucking words, me and all my fans at the show, the gay ones and the straight ones, we turned the fuck up.”

The rapper touched on his controversial remarks again on Thursday (July 29) in a self-directed video for his new song ‘Giving What It’s Supposed to Give’. The video ends with the message “Don’t Fight Hate With Hate” in rainbow lettering. “My apologies for being me, the same way you want the freedom to be you,” it concludes.

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