How DaBaby's Homophobic Comments at Rolling Loud Set Off a Firestorm

DaBaby has dubbed himself the “Live Show Killa,” and he’s certainly gotten folks around the world talking about his recent set at Rolling Loud. During the performance, the Charlotte rapper born Jonathan Kirk not only brought controversial artist Tory Lanez on stage, but made some truly bizarre and offensive comments about queer people, as well as those living with HIV and AIDS.

“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 cell phone light in the air,” he said. “Ladies, if your pussy smells like water, put a cell phone light in the air. Fellas, if you ain’t suck a n-gga dick in the parking lot, put your cell phone lights in the air. Keep it fucking real.”

Though much of the initial scrutiny of DaBaby’s set centered around Lanez, whom Megan the Stallion accused of shooting her last year in a widely-publicized incident, discourse in the ensuing days has focused on Kirk’s homophobic comments.

His initial response came in the form of a video on Instagram, where he criticized people commenting on a concert that they did not themselves attend. “What me and my fans do at the live show, it don’t concern you n-ggas on the internet or you bitter bitches on the internet,” he said, before sharing a story about enjoying the energy of a fan in the crowd who he thought may have been gay, ostensibly to refute critics.

Eventually, Kirk offered something more in the realm of a traditional celebrity apology. In a string of tweets, he admitted the remarks about sexually transmitted diseases were “insensitive,” while also criticizing brands and companies that “profit off Black rappers’ influence on the culture,” and hyping up his own upcoming tour dates.

“Anybody who done ever been effected [sic] 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,” he wrote, though not without a cryptic follow-up. “But the LGBT community... I ain’t trippin on y’all, do you. Y’all business is y’all business.”

Since his rapid ascent to A-list status in 2019, DaBaby has consistently found himself amidst controversy. In 2020, he struck a female fan at a concert, something he later apologized for. He’s been arrested several times in recent years, and last summer blasted the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, calling it “unlawful.” Kirk has used his platform often to speak on the issue of police brutality, including during his performance of “Rockstar” at the 63rd Grammys in March.

Baby spoke about the controversies that have followed him on his 2020 album, the cheekily-titled Blame It On Baby: “I don't get into politics, I just be poppin' shit/Obviously hot as a motherfuckin' fire/Only answer to God, I’m already convicted/If I’m havin’ you as my witness,” he raps on the opener “Can’t Stop.”

On DaBaby’s side are older rappers like T.I., who dubiously equated Baby’s speech with Lil Nas X’s freedom of expression in videos for songs like “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” and Boosie Badazz, who referred to Nas with a homophobic slur during an Instagram diatribe of his own.

Denouncing his remarks are a host of figures, from his “Levitating” remix collaborator Dua Lipa (“I’m surprised and horrified at DaBaby’s comments,” she wrote on Instagram), as well as Elton John (who stressed the danger of AIDS-related misinformation), and Demi Lovato (“HIV is not a gay disease,” their Instagram post read).