DaBaby apologized last week to Black leaders at nine HIV organizations across the U.S. for his “inaccurate and hurtful comments” at a music festival in July, GLAAD announced on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old rapper took part in “a meaningful dialogue and a thoughtful, educational meeting” on Aug. 25 – a month after he told the crowd at Rolling Loud in Miami Gardens, Florida: “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 … Fellas, if you ain’t sucking n***a d**k in the parking lot, put your cellphone light up.”
Branded misinformed and homophobic, DaBaby was dropped from the line-ups of several summer music festivals and criticized by artists like Dua Lipa, Elton John and Madonna.
DaBaby, whose real name is Jonathan Kirk, publicly apologized several times for what he admitted were “insensitive” and “hurtful” comments. But, he subsequently released a music video for a track that includes the line: “B**ch, we like AIDS / I’m on your a** / We on your a**, b**ch / We won’t go away.”
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GLAAD said that at the virtual meeting, DaBaby “was genuinely engaged, apologized for the inaccurate and hurtful comments he made about people living with HIV, and received our personal stories and the truth about HIV and its impact on Black and LGBTQ communities with deep respect.”
Marnina Miller of the Southern AIDS Coalition, said in a release: “DaBaby's willingness to listen, learn, and grow can open the door to an entirely new generation of people to do the same … We hope DaBaby will use his platform to educate his fans and help end the epidemic.”
Read the full GLAAD statement here.