Things have been rough for DaBaby since his infamous Rolling Loud festival performance in July 2021. As a reminder, it was then that, on stage in front of many people, he decided it would be a good idea to say things like, “If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, any of them deadly sexual transmitted diseases that make you die in two or three weeks, then put your cell phone light in the air,” and, “Fellas, if you ain’t suck a n****’s dick in the parking lot, put your cell phone light in the air.”
The rapper quickly insisted his words were taken out of context and “twisted up.” Regardless, since then, DaBaby has lost business deals, been removed from festival lineups, and the version of Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” featuring him fell out of favor. This past October, DaBaby said this whole situation has cost him “$100 million within a year’s span.”
Now, the backlash continues, and this time, it’s coming from a lion.
As TMZ reports, the rapper was recently visiting the Al Buqaish Private Zoo in Dubai, and a video shows him hanging out with a leashed lion. As he makes Lion King references to it, the animal at one point seems to take exception to how DaBaby is holding the chain leash and raises its head, which startled the rapper and prompted him to hand the reigns off to somebody else off camera.
Fortunately for DaBaby, while that first lion blamed it on Baby, different clips show him interacting with other animals and enjoying the zoo facilities without issue.