DaBaby

For someone who gets in a new altercation seemingly every other week, DaBaby is very concerned about his public perception. After being charged with felony battery over alleged attacking the owner of a home where the Charlotte rapper shot a music video, he wants to put an end to the online chatter about his character. Over the weekend, he posted a supposed video of the alleged victim, Gary Prager, using racial slurs as he paces in a driveway.

“Y’all keep believing these type of people & helping em assassinate my character,” DaBaby wrote. “Y’all might as well get a rope & help him hang my black ass on a tree.” The video, which he’d apparently previously posted to TikTok contained a caption and automated voiceover (y’all gotta stop using that feature, it sounds awful) reading, “On today’s episode of ‘Let’s Make DaBaby look like a bad person’ we have Gary Pragar a PROUD white supremacist lying to TMZ & LAPD. Not knowing that he’s caught on camera.”

I don’t know anything about what kind of a person DaBaby is, but as an editor, that caption makes my eye itch. Meanwhile, it’s probably too late for DaBaby to change most folks’ opinions; after all, his career as most of us know didn’t really get started until after he shot a man to death during an altercation at a Walmart. While the authorities agreed with his self-defense argument, his behavior since then hasn’t drastically improved. Since releasing his debut album under his current moniker (changed from Baby Jesus in late 2018), he’s been involved in no fewer than six separate incidents of assault and/or battery — most recently against his child’s mother’s brother at a bowling alley.

Then, of course, there was the incident that turned public opinion against him the most, when he made some homophobic-sounding remarks during his set at Rolling Loud Miami in July 2021. He’s since apologized and defended himself but has also lashed out at critics, making those apologies ring hollow. As a person, I think we can all understand it’s no fun to feel like the world is against you. But at this point, he certainly must recognize that if the whole world seems to be against you — you might the be problem, not the world.

And if that is Gary Prager in the video he posted, then sure, you can argue the guy had it coming. But unfortunately, there’s no law protecting the right to knock out someone’s tooth for being a bigot. Hopefully, DaBaby can figure out some better conflict resolution skills and let karma do the heavy lifting in the future.

DaBaby has been unable to stay out of legal trouble for an extended period of time. It was just a few months ago that officials announced that he was being investigated for assault with a deadly weapon after his bowling alley altercation with DaniLeigh’s brother. Prior to that, he was detained and questioned about a shooting that took place in Miami. These incidents join DaBaby’s controversial matters like making homophobic remarks during Rolling Loud, punching an artist on his own label, and more. Unfortunately for DaBaby, this displeasing streak of his just got extended.

A felony battery charge is something that DaBaby can now add to his list of things to deal with. The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office applied the charge following an incident that occurred during a music video shoot back in December. According to TMZ, a man named Gary Pagar allowed DaBaby to rent out a massive pad in Los Angeles and it was understood that no more than 12 people could be on the property at the time. Despite this, DaBaby had more than that amount there in order to shoot the video to “Play U Lay” with Stunna 4 Vegas and Jake Paul.

Pagar eventually became aware that DaBaby violated the terms of their agreement and reached out to the rapper and his team who assured him that the crew wouldn’t stay on the property for long. However, on December 2, Pagar decided to make a visit to the property where he discovered a crew of nearly 40 people. He attempted to talk to DaBaby, but that was thwarted when he was attacked by a member of the rapper’s crew, which was caught on camera. As if that wasn’t enough, DaBaby told the individual to back off all to allegedly sucker punch Pagar and knock his tooth out.

DaBaby was sued by Pagar for the incident and it’s unknown if that suit is still active now that charges have been applied.

Earlier this week, a Rolling Stone report published a surveillance video of the altercation that led to DaBaby’s deadly shooting at a Walmart in 2018. In the video, DaBaby is seen scuffling with Henry Douglas down the store’s aisles, before Jaylin Craig intervenes and is ultimately shot and killed by DaBaby. DaBaby has maintained that he was acting in self-defense and while the internet is ablaze on what exactly the surveillance footage means for the case, DaBaby hasn’t wavered on his stance.

Now, DaBaby’s lawyers Drew Findling and Marissa Goldberg, have told TMZ that not only did they see the video in 2018, but that it shows that the rapper (real name Jonathan Kirk) indeed acted in self-defense. “Witnesses were interviewed and corroborated Mr. Kirk’s statement,” they said in a statement to TMZ. “The entirety of the surveillance video was viewed and determined to corroborate Mr. Kirk’s statement … Mr. Kirk was protecting himself and his family at the time of the shooting.”

In watching the video, it can be construed that when Craig comes to the assistance of Douglas, his hand is on his hip, thus indicating that he was pulling a gun. DaBaby has claimed that he fired his weapon as he sought to protect his kids, who were with him. Given that the case was concluded without charges in 2019 — although DaBaby was tried and convicted on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, for which he was given a year on probation — it would seem that the authorities agree with his claims of self-defense.