Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa are among
the celebrities criticizing rapper DaBaby's recent comments about gay
men and HIV.
At a concert in Miami on Sunday, DaBaby
told the crowd: “If you didn't show up today with HIV, AIDS, any of
them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that'll make you die in
two, twee weeks, then put your cellphone light up.”
“Fellas, if you ain't sucking dick in
the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up,” he also said.
John, who is raising two children with
husband David Furnish and started the Elton John AIDS Foundation,
responded on Twitter.
"We've been shocked to read about
the HIV misinformation and homophobic statements made at a recent
DaBaby show,” John wrote. “This fuels stigma and discrimination
and is the opposite of what our world needs to fight the AIDS
epidemic."
"HIV has affected over 70 million
people globally: men, women, children and the most vulnerable people
in our communities.”
"In America, a gay black man has a
50% lifetime chance of contracting HIV. Stigma and shame around HIV
and homosexuality is a huge driver of this vulnerability. We need to
break down the myths and judgments and not fuel these.”
"You can live a long and healthy
life with HIV. Treatment is so advanced that with one pill a day, HIV
can become undetectable in your body so you can’t pass it onto
other people.”
"Homophobic and HIV mistruths have
no place in our society and industry and as musicians, we must spread
compassion and love for the most marginalized people in our
communities. A musician’s job is to bring people together,” he
said.
Singer Dua Lipa, who collaborated with
DaBaby on the track “Levitating,” criticized DaBaby's comments on
Instagram.
“I'm surprised and horrified at
DaBaby's comments. I really don't recognize this as the person I
worked with,” she wrote.
“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,” she
said.
In a Twitter post, DaBaby apologized:
[W]hat I said was insensitive even though I have no intentions of
offending anybody. So my apologies.” He added, “But to the LGBT
community … y'all business is y'all business.”