DaBaby Still Set To Perform At Texas Arena As Backlash Mounts Against Rapper For Homophobic Rant
The show must go on. Despite DaBaby coming under fire from a slew of fans and celebrities for his homophobic rant at his latest concert, the rapper's shows will reportedly continue to carry on.
Radar exclusively confirmed DaBaby is set to take the stage tomorrow, Friday, July 30, at Payne Arena in Hidalgo, Tex., despite offending the LGBTQIA+ community, people living with HIV or AIDS, and women.
Amid the controversy, general manager, Eric Treviño, said he and his team are looking forward to hosting the rapper who is embroiled in scandal. "We're excited about having the show," Treviño insisted.
"The stuff that [DaBaby] said might've been different to different people," he explained, "but we support every single artist of all kinds here, and we're going to continue bringing bigger and bigger artists here to Hidalgo, Texas."
It seems those working at the arena aren't the only ones who still support DaBaby, as Treviño said there was only one person who asked for a refund — though it is not confirmed whether the refund request was linked to DaBaby's recent anti-gay commentary.
OK! reported the "BOP" rapper made headlines over the weekend for what he said at the Rolling Loud music festival in Miami, Florida. While on the stage, the 29-year-old 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."
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He also advised all the ladies whose "p***y smell like water" to put their cellphone lighter up. "Fellas, if you ain't sucking d--k in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up," DaBaby added.
While DaBaby has addressed the controversial situation twice — noting he felt it was more of a "call to action" than a "rant" — it seems he won't be welcomed back into Hollywood's good graces anytime soon. Many celebrities have since slammed the artist for his shockingly offensive statements.
Dua Lipa — who collaborated with the embattled performer on a remix of her tune "Levitating" — said she was "surprised and horrified at DaBaby's comments." Demi Lovato also condemned the "Rockstar" artist by reposting a statement that read: “hot people listen to the original version of 'Levitating.’”
Sir Elton John then went after DaBaby, shaming him for spreading misinformation with the public and using his platform as a musician to fuel "stigma and discrimination." As musicians, John said: "we must spread compassion and love for the most marginalized people in our communities. A musician’s job is to bring people together."
Despite DaBaby addressing the incident twice, with him at first insisting his comments were" digested" wrong, he still seemed to miss the point the second time around.