T.I. has defended DaBaby after backlash over his homophobic remarks during Rolling Loud
The 'Suge' hitmaker was criticised for the comments he made about sexually-transmitted diseases during his set at the festival over the weekend, and now his fellow rapper has offered support and compared him to Lil Nas X, who is openly gay
30 July 2021
T.I. wrote on Instagram: "If you gonna have the Lil Nas X video and him living his truth, you gonna damn sure have people like DaBaby who gonna speak their truth.
“Ain’t nothing wrong with none of it. It ain’t got to be no hate. It’s all honesty. Everybody living in their truth.”
During his set, the star - whose real name is Jonathan Kirk - made the controversial remarks.
He said: "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 lighter up…
"Fellas, if you ain’t sucking d*** in the parking lot, put your cell phone lighter up.”
DaBaby later took to his Instagram Live and claimed straight and gay fans enjoyed his show, and insisted people couldn't criticise if they weren't at the show itself.
He added: "I wasn’t going on a rant. That’s called a call to action. That’s what that’s called, cause I’m a live performer. I’m the best live performer.”
However, he's still been met with fierce backlash over the remarks, and Dua Lipa - who collaborated with the rapper on her 'Levitating' remix - admitted she was "horrified".
She said on her own Instagram Story: "I’m surprised and horrified at DaBaby’s comments. 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. (sic)"
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