Austin City Limits Is The Latest Festival To Remove DaBaby From Their Lineup After His Homophobic Rant

DaBaby’s name has been all over headlines this past week after he made some extremely inaccurate and homophobic comments about HIV/AIDS during his Rolling Loud set. The rant has been condemned by artists like Madonna and Elton John, and even prompted an official statement from GLAADD. DaBaby had been confirmed to perform at several other festivals this year, but event organizers have opted now to pull him from their lineup.

So far, festivals like Lollapalooza, Governor’s Ball, and Day N Vegas have dropped DaBaby from their official lineups after news of his on-stage comments spread. Now, Texas festival Austin City Limits is the latest to follow suit. ACL issued an official statement on their social media Tuesday, saying DaBaby will no longer appear at their two-weekend event in October. “DaBaby will no longer be performing at Austin City Limits Music Festival — lineup update coming soon,” organizers wrote in an announcement.

One week and several celebrity call-outs later, DaBaby finally issued an apology statement Monday. After first complaining that people were quick to condemn him on social media, DaBaby wrote: “I want to apologize to the LGBTQ+ community for the hurtful and triggering comments I made. Again, I apologize for my misinformed comments about HIV/AIDS and I know education on this is important.”

Read DaBaby’s full apology statement here.

DaBaby Removed From 3 Major Festival Lineups

Charlotte rapper DaBaby might want to backtrack on his words. In light of the comments he made at Rolling Loud regarding gay people and sexually transmitted diseases, he’s been cut out of a slew of festival lineups. DaBaby Removed From Governors Ball + More New York City’s Governors Ball is the latest festival to remove […]

The DaBaby Remix Of Dua Lipa’s ‘Levitating’ Is Still Near The Top Of The Charts Despite Fewer Radio Plays

The backlash to DaBaby’s controversial HIV/AIDS comments at Rolling Loud a couple weekends ago (for which he only just apologized today) has been severe, as he’s been dropped from multiple festival lineups and dragged by many of his peers in music. Dua Lipa, who recruited DaBaby to join her on the “Levitating” remix, said she was “surprised and horrified” by the things DaBaby said on stage.

Since the controversy, music curators have started phasing the DaBaby version of “Levitating” off of playlists and radio airplay, but in spite of that, the song is still doing quite well on the charts. On the new Hot 100 dated August 7, the “Levitating” remix is at No. 5, a slight drop from its spot at No. 3 last week. The Rolling Loud incident happened on July 25, which was a few days into the tracking week reflected on the latest chart, July 23 to 29.

Billboard reports that remix saw a 12-percent drop in plays compared to the solo version of the song last week, noting, “On July 25, 71% of its plays was via the remix; on July 29, the last day of the tracking week, the share dropped to 59%.”

If the solo version of “Levitating” ends up becoming the most prominent version of the song in terms of charting activity, it is possible for DaBaby’s credit to be removed from “Levitating” as it appears on the Hot 100 and other charts. A similar thing happened last year when Nicki Minaj was removed from the Hot 100 listing for Doja Cat’s “Say So.” Billboard explained at the time, “After two weeks of Minaj showing as a featured artist on ‘Say So’ on the Hot 100 and other charts that utilize the same methodology, only Doja Cat is now listed, as the original version, without Minaj, is now driving the majority of overall activity for the song; the change does not affect any of Minaj’s achievements on those charts the past two weeks, and she continues not to be credited on the song on any airplay charts, as the vast majority of the song’s airplay is still for the original version.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

DaBaby Finally Apologizes For His ‘Hurtful And Triggering Comments’ A Week Later

DaBaby has been in the music industry doghouse since making comments about HIV/AIDS at Rolling Loud last weekend. Usually, when somebody says something that’s met with wide and instant backlash, they realize the error of their ways and issue an immediate apology. Instead, DaBaby went more in the direction of digging his heels into the ground and lashing out at those who shared negative opinions about his actions.

Now, finally, over a week later, DaBaby has offered an apology. Sharing an image of text on social media, he wrote:

“Social media moves so fast that people want to demolish you before you even have the opportunity to grow, educate, and learn from your mistakes. As a man who has had to make his own way from very difficult circumstances, having people I know publicly working against me — knowing that what I needed was education on these topics and guidance — has been challenging. I appreciate the many people who came to me with kindness, who reached out to me privately to offer wisdom, education, and resources. That’s what I needed and it was received.

I want to apologize to the LGBTQ+ community for the hurtful and triggering comments I made. Again, I apologize for my misinformed comments about HIV/AIDS and I know education on this is important. Love to all. God bless.

– DaBaby.”

In some respects, this apology came too late, as he has already been removed from the lineups of Governor’s Ball, Day N Vegas, and Lollapalooza.

Find DaBaby’s post below.