DaBaby recently spoke about the financial fallout from his past homophobic rant. The rapper, born Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, was on the rise from 2019 to 2020. His momentum stalled in 2021 after facing backlash from major brands, celebrities, and social media users. Now, he is opening up about the impact it had on his finances.
DaBaby Says He Missed Out On Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars After Being Canceled In 2021
While appearing on the “Million Dollaz Worth Of Game” podcast, DaBaby revealed he was making upward of $300,000 before being canceled in 2021.
“I had a calendar full of shows. 350K, 350K, 375K, 400K, 300K,” he said before revealing his fee dropped significantly to “$30,000.”
Despite the fee change, DaBaby said he wasn’t deterred. In fact, he told the podcast host that he was more than happy to accept those gigs.
“No, I went and got that,” he said.
Why Was DaBaby Canceled In 2021? His Homophobic Rant Went Viral
For those unfamiliar, DaBaby made headlines in July 2021 while performing at Rolling Loud Miami.
During his set, DaBaby made a series of homophobic and offensive comments. “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,” he said.
“Ladies, if your p—- smell like water, put your cellphone lighter up. Fellas, if you ain’t sucking d— in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up,” he added.
DaBaby, of course, received pushback; however, he defended himself online, calling himself the “best live performer” before saying his comments were misconstrued.
“My gay fans, they take care of themselves. They ain’t no nasty gay n—as. See what I’m saying? They ain’t no junkies in the street. The hell you talking about, n—as? Then I said if you ain’t sucking d— in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up. You know what my gay fans did? Put that motherf—ing light up, n—a, ’cause my gay fans ain’t going for that. They got class. They ain’t sucking no d— in no parking lot,” he wrote.
Celebrities Slam DaBaby After Sharing Homophobic Rant
The backlash DaBaby faced wasn’t limited to social media users. Celebrities also spoke out, including Dua Lipa, who had recently released a remix of her hit song “Levitating” featuring the rapper. Fans called for her to pull his feature, which she did.
“I’m surprised and horrified at DaBaby’s comments. I really don’t recognize this as the person I worked with,” she said in a statement. “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.”
Demi Lovato, too, blasted the rapper, writing on Instagram that “HIV is not a gay disease.”
Elton John and Madonna also condemned DaBaby’s statements, while the fashion brand BoohooMAN cut ties with the rapper following the release of their collaboration a month prior.
“Diversity and inclusion are part of the boohoo Groups DNA and we pride ourselves on representing the diverse customers we serve across the globe. We stand by and support the LGBTQ+ community, and do not tolerate hate speech or discrimination in any form,” their statement read.
Rapper Apologizes After Career Begins To Suffer
After his comments, three different festivals pulled DaBaby from their lineups, seemingly prompting the rapper to issue an apology.
“Anybody who done ever been affected 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. So my apologies,” he wrote.
Days later, he issued another apology on his Instagram, writing, “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.”
However, netizens noticed the apology had been deleted from his account less than a week later.
Other Rappers Speak Out And Show Their Support
Rapper T.I. defended DaBaby following the scandal, saying he had a right to live his “truth.” After the situation blew up, he added, “I think you guys have to understand that onstage, that’s not the place that rappers go to be sensitive and soothe everybody’s feelings.”
“It’s a place to go to have a good time,” he said, adding that DaBaby’s cancellation was like “bullying.”
Nick Cannon commented while appearing on “The Breakfast Club,” challenging those who were upset to use the moment to educate DaBaby rather than cancel him. “This is a moment where we should all gather around DaBaby and embrace him because if we can do that, watch how many mentalities will change in the hip-hop community,” he said.
