Elton John hits back at rapper DaBaby for homophobic comments

Elton John has hit back at DaBaby after he made homophobic comments on stage at a music festival. 

The singer, 74, – who married partner David Furnish in 2014 – said he was shocked at the ‘HIV misinformation and homophobia’ that has ‘no place in the music industry’.

Rapper DaBaby, 29, had been appearing at the Rolling Loud festival in Miami when he addressed the crowd during his set and made the homophobic comments which he has now apologized for. 

He encouraged festival-goers to raise their mobile phones in the air – unless they were HIV-positive or gay men who had had sex with another man in a car park.

Honest: Elton John has hit back at DaBaby after he made homophobic comments on stage at a music festival (pictured with husband David Furnish in May)

Backlash: The singer, 74, said he was shocked at the ‘HIV misinformation and homophobia’ that has ‘no place in the music industry’

Speaking to the crowd, DaBaby then said: ‘If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that’ll make you die in two or three weeks, put your cellphone light in the air.  

‘Ladies, if your p***y smell like water, put your cellphone light in the air. Fellas, if you ain’t suck a n****’s d**k in the parking lot, put your cellphone lights in the air. Keep it f*****g real.’ 

And on Wednesday Elton hit back as he shared a quote to his Instagram that read: ‘HIV misinformation and homophobia have no place in the music industry.

Criticism: Rapper DaBaby, 29, had been appearing at the Rolling Loud festival in Miami when he addressed the crowd during his set and made the homophobic comments which he has now apologized for 

Backtracking: In a tweet apologizing he wrote: ‘Anybody who done ever been effected 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’

‘We must break down the stigma around HIV and not spread it. As musicians it’s our job to bring people together.’ 

The topic is close to Elton’s heart as he set up the The Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992 to support innovative HIV prevention, education programs, direct care and support services to people living with HIV.  

Under the post Elton wrote: ‘We’ve been shocked to read about the HIV misinformation and homophobic statements made at a recent DaBaby show. This fuels stigma and discrimination and is the opposite of what our world needs to fight the AIDS epidemic.⁣’

Having his say: Under the post Elton wrote: ‘We’ve been shocked to read about the HIV misinformation and homophobic statements made at a recent DaBaby show’

He went on to share several facts about HIV including how you can ‘live a long and healthy life with HIV.’

DaBaby apologised on Wednesday after making the homophobic comments, admitting his words were ‘insensitive’ but that he had ‘no intentions on offending anybody’.  

In a tweet he wrote: ‘Anybody who done ever been effected 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 – But the LGBT community… I ain’t trippin on y’all, do you. y’all business is y’all business.’  

Mistake: DaBaby encouraged festival-goers to raise their mobile phones in the air – unless they were HIV-positive or gay men who had had sex with another man in a car park

It comes just after Dua Lipa spoke out against the homophobic comments made by the musician.

Taking to her Instagram story on Tuesday evening, Dua, 25, condemned the comments made by DaBaby.

She wrote: ‘I’m surprised and horrified at DaBaby’s comments. I really don’t recognize this as the person I worked with. 

‘I really don’t recognise this as the person I worked with’: It comes just after Dua Lipa also spoke out against the homophobic comments made by the musician

Speaking out: Taking to her Instagram story on Tuesday evening, Dua Lipa condemned the comments made by DaBaby

‘I know my fans know where my heart lies and that I stand 100% with the LGBTQ community. We need to come together to fight the stigma and ignorance around HIV/AIDS.’

Dua Lipa and DaBaby previously worked together for a remix of her song Levitating, for her album Future Nostalgia.

Among his comments, DaBaby falsely claimed that HIV and AIDS ‘make you die in two or three weeks’, but medication to help those with HIV live long and happy lives has been available for many years.

MailOnline has approached representatives for DaBaby for comment. 

Previous colleagues: Dua Lipa and DaBaby previously worked together for a remix of her song Levitating, for her album Future Nostalgia (pictured together in March 2021)

It comes after rapper T.I. defended DaBaby’s comments last week.

In an Instagram live the 40-year-old said that DaBaby has a right to express his opinion, comparing his rant to Lil Nas X’s explicit new Industry Baby video.

‘If you gonna have the Lil Nas X video and him living his truth, you gonna damn sure have people like DaBaby who gonna speak their truth,’ he said. 

‘Ain’t nothing wrong with none of it, it ain’t got to be no hate — it’s all honesty. Everybody living in their truth.’ 

Opinions: It comes after rapper T.I. (pictured in 2019) defended DaBaby’s comments last week

Earlier this year, DaBaby sparked a strong reaction from social media users after he seemingly referred to JoJo Siwa as a ‘b***h’ in one of his new songs.

The rapper left fans confused when he released a track called Beatbox Freestyle which appeared to diss the 17-year-old singer.

However, DaBaby has since insisted he was not trying to slam JoJo and the internet has misunderstood the meaning behind the lyrics.

In the song, he raps: ‘N****, you a b***h/ JoJo Siwa, b***h/ She let the wrong n**** get rich,’ while holding up a photo of JoJo to the camera.

Fans quickly took to social media to poke fun at DaBaby for apparently hitting out at the teen star.

One user wrote: ‘DaBaby got no reason to call out JoJo Siwa like that,’ while anothe rsaid: ‘Of all the people for DaBaby to be beefing with and he picks JoJo Siwa????’

Another added: ‘DaBaby is going to need to explain that JoJo Siwa bar because I am confusion’.

Several others shared hilarious memes poking fun at the rap before DaBaby took to Twitter to clarify the meaning behind his rap.

Track: DaBaby sparked a strong reaction from social media users earlier this year after he seemingly referred to JoJo Siwa as a ‘b***h’ in a new song

Clarification: The rapper insisted the track was not a diss to JoJo but was a play on words as his real name is Jonathan (‘JoJo’) and he used Siwa as a twist on ‘see why’

The rapper insisted the track was not a diss to JoJo but was a play on words as his real name is Jonathan (‘JoJo’) and he used Siwa as a twist on ‘see why’.

Taking to social media, he wrote: ‘I love Twitter bruh,’ before he messaged JoJo directly and insisted he is a big fan and his daughter also loves her.

DaBaby wrote: ‘@JoJoSiwa my 3 year old princess is your number 1 fan. I bought her every product you have out. She think she you.

‘Don’t let em trick you into thinking id ever have a problem with you. My word play just went over their heads. All love on my end shawty, Keep shinning!’

WHY MODERN MEDS MEAN HIV IS NOT A DEATH SENTENCE

Prior to 1996, HIV was a death sentence. Then, ART (anti-retroviral therapy) was made, suppressing the virus, and meaning a person can live as long a life as anyone else, despite having HIV.

Drugs were also invented to lower an HIV-negative person’s risk of contracting the virus by 99%. 

In recent years, research has shown that ART can suppress HIV to such an extent that it makes the virus untransmittable to sexual partners.

That has spurred a movement to downgrade the crime of infecting a person with HIV: it leaves the victim on life-long, costly medication, but it does not mean certain death.  

Here is more about the new life-saving and preventative drugs: 

1. Drugs for HIV-positive people 

It suppresses their viral load so the virus is untransmittable

In 1996, anti-retroviral therapy (ART) was discovered. 

The drug, a triple combination, turned HIV from a fatal diagnosis to a manageable chronic condition.  

It suppresses the virus, preventing it from developing into AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome), which makes the body unable to withstand infections.

After six months of religiously taking the daily pill, it suppresses the virus to such an extent that it’s undetectable. 

And once a person’s viral load is undetectable, they cannot transmit HIV to anyone else, according to scores of studies including a decade-long study by the National Institutes of Health. 

Public health bodies around the world now acknowledge that U=U (undetectable equals untransmittable).

2. Drugs for HIV-negative people 

It is 99% effective at preventing HIV

PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) became available in 2012. 

This pill works like ‘the pill’ – it is taken daily and is 99 percent effective at preventing HIV infection (more effective than the contraceptive pill is at preventing pregnancy). 

It consists of two medicines (tenofovir dosproxil fumarate and emtricitabine). Those medicines can mount an immediate attack on any trace of HIV that enters the person’s bloodstream, before it is able to spread throughout the body.

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