The pop icon spoke out against the rapper's insensitive comments toward the LGBTQ community.
Madonna is sending an important message to DaBaby. After the rapper received backlash for his anti-LGBTQ remarks this week, the "Vogue" singer called out the "hateful" comments DaBaby made and told him to "know your facts."
"A message to DaBaby - if you’re going to make hateful remarks to the LGBTQ+ community about HIV/AIDS then know your facts," Madonna began. "After decades of hard won scientific research— there are now life saving medicines available to children born with HIV, to people who contract HIV through blood transfusions, dirty needles or exchange of bodily fluids. These new ARV’s can keep a person with AIDS alive for the rest of their lives!!! AID’s is not transmitted by standing next to someone in a crowd."
"I want to put my cellphone lighter up and pray for your ignorance, No one dies of AIDS in 2 or 3 weeks anymore. Thank God 🙏," she continued, before also touching on his "sexist remarks" toward women that "only encourage more discrimination against women who fight daily against the oppression of living under the constraints of the Male Gaze."
The pop icon added that people like the rapper "are the reason we are still living in a world divided by fear. All Human beings should be treated with dignity and respect regardless of race, gender, sexual preference or religious beliefs. AMEN. @dababy."
Last weekend, DaBaby sparked outrage after insensitive comments he made at the Rolling Loud festival. During his set, he told fans in the audience to raise their cellphone lights in the air "if you didn't show up today with HIV/AIDS or other STDs that'll make you die in 2-3 weeks," and, "Fellas, if you didn't suck a n**** d**k in the parking lot."
On Monday, DaBaby attempted to clarify his remarks -- instead of apologizing -- when he posted a video in which he said he wasn't insulting any of his gay fans, as he believes they don't have HIV/AIDS, stating they aren't "nasty gay n****s" or "junkies," according to TMZ. The video has since been deleted.
On Tuesday, the artist attempted to send his "apologies" to anyone he upset, tweeting, "Anybody who done ever been effected 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," DaBaby tweeted. "So my apologies 🙏🏾"
"But the LGBT community... I ain’t trippin on y’all, do you. y’all business is y’all business," he added.
Later in the week, he promoted his new music video, calling out the controversy and writing on Instagram that he's an "entertainer," tried to apologize and was trying to "explain that you meant no harm & that you were only entertaining as you are paid to do, & have no problem with anyone’s sexual preference that is outside of yours, only to have a substantial amount of people refuse to understand your logic."
However, DaBaby's apology wasn't enough as many artists called him out, including collaborator Dua Lipa, who featured him on the 2020 remix of her single, "Levitating."
"I'm surprised and horrified at DaBaby's comments," Lipa wrote in a post she shared to her Instagram Story. "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 LGTBQ community. We need to come together to fight the stigma and ignorance around HIV/AIDS."
Elton John also posted a statement, as well as informed his followers about the facts surrounding HIV.
"We've been shocked to read about the HIV misinformation and homophobic statements made at a recent DaBaby show. This fuels stigma and discrimination and is the opposite of what our world needs to fight the AIDS epidemic," he wrote in part.
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