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DaBaby cut from Lollapalooza line-up hours before scheduled performance
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 2 August 2021
The Lollapalooza festival in Chicago cancelled DaBaby’s performance this weekend, citing his recent homophobic comments.
In a statement hours before the rapper’s scheduled performance, organisers said: “Lollapalooza was founded on diversity, inclusivity, respect and love. With that in mind, DaBaby will no longer be performing at Grant Park tonight”.
This followed a week of controversy for DaBaby, which began with comments he made during a performance at another festival, Rolling Loud Miami, where he declared: “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. 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!”
Having initially further fuelled the controversy with comments on social media last Monday, the rapper kind of half apologised on Tuesday, saying on Twitter: “Anybody who done ever been effected by AIDS/HIV, y’all got the right to be upset. What I said was insensitive even though I have no intentions on offending anybody. So my apologies. But the LGBT community… I ain’t trippin on y’all, do you. Y’all business is y’all business”.
However, he then made things worse again as the week progressed with a long waffly post on Instagram, and a new video on YouTube which ended with the caption “Don’t Fight Hate With Hate” in rainbow colours, and then, “my apologies for being me, the same way you want the freedom to be you”.
The rapper’s comments were condemned by other artists, including Elton John, Demi Lovato, Madonna and Dua Lipa. It also saw him dropped from a brand partnership with UK-based fashion firm Boohoo.
DaBaby has as yet offered no comment on being canned by either Boohoo or Lollapalooza.
