HIV Organizations Issue Joint Statement After Meeting With DaBaby
DaBaby reportedly met with nine HIV awareness organizations to get better informed about the disease and the LGBTQ community in general after making a series of disparaging and ill-informed remarks about gay men and HIV at a music festival in Miami last month. The fallout from his comments resulted in the rapper being cut from several summer concert lineups.
GLAAD announced Tuesday (August 31) that the Charlotte rapper met virtually with leaders from its organization, the Black AIDS Institute, the Gilead Sciences COMPASS Initiative and six other groups this week in response to his anti-gay remarks he made during the Rolling Loud Festival last month.
According to a press release, DaBaby “eagerly” met with the organizations, “swiftly answered” their call, and joined them in “meaningful dialogue.”
“During our meeting, DaBaby was genuinely engaged, apologized for the inaccurate and hurtful comments he made about people living with HIV, and received our personal stories and the truth about HIV and its impact on Black and LGBTQ communities with deep respect,” the statement reads. “We appreciate that he openly and eagerly participated in this forum of Black people living with HIV, which provided him an opportunity to learn and to receive accurate information.”
DaBaby returned to the stage last week for Hot97’s Summer Jam and credited the station for giving him a chance while on stage.
“They still allowed me to come right here on this stage and utilize their platform,” he said. “They helped the world move forward and become a better place and not dismiss people based off mistakes made like we ain’t human.”
