Not quite 24 hours after Lollapalooza canceled DaBaby’s Sunday (Aug. 1) performance at the Chicago festival due to his homophobic remarks, New York City’s Governors Ball has also removed the beleaguered rapper from its 2021 lineup.
Releasing a new lineup on Monday (Aug. 2) morning that no longer includes DaBaby, the festival wrote, “Founders Entertainment does not and will not tolerate hate or discrimination of any kind. We welcome and celebrate the diverse communities that make New York City the greatest city in the world. Thank you to the fans who continue to speak up for what’s right. Along with you, we will continue to use our platform for good.” Founders Entertainment produces Governors Ball.
“Stay tuned for a lineup addition,” promised the Gov Ball Twitter account. When reached for comment, reps for the festival told Billboard they had no information to share beyond what was already on their official social accounts; the tweet, however, makes it tacitly clear that DaBaby’s removal stems from his controversial comments about the LGBTQ community and those living with HIV/AIDS.
The controversy stems from DaBaby’s set at Rolling Loud in Miami on July 25, where he told the crowd, “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 p—- smell like water, put your cellphone lighter up. Fellas, if you ain’t sucking d— in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up.”
DaBaby took to Instagram on July 26 to expound upon his comments: “My gay fans, they take care of themselves. They ain’t no nasty gay n—as. See what I’m saying? They ain’t no junkies in the street. The hell you talking about, n—as? Then I said if you ain’t sucking d— in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up. You know what my gay fans did? Put that motherf—ing light up, n—a, ’cause my gay fans ain’t going for that. They got class. They ain’t sucking no d— in no parking lot.”
On July 27, DaBaby apologized to those living with HIV/AIDS: “Anybody who done ever been affected 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 did, however, insist people “digested” his words the wrong way. On July 28, he dropped a new music video that ended with a rainbow-colored message: “My apologies for being me the same way you want the freedom to be you.”
