Reminding that musicians' job is to bring people together, the 'Rocket Man' hitmaker stresses that 'HIV misinformation and homophobia have no place in the music industry.'
- July 29, 2021
AceShowbiz - Elton John has slammed rapper DaBaby for fueling stigma around HIV with an ill-advised rant at a weekend (July 25) music festival.
The hitmaker stunned fans and followers by calling out gay people during his set at the Rolling Loud festival in Miami, Florida on Sunday, urging concertgoers who didn't have HIV or Aids or "any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that'll make you die in two or three weeks" to "put your cellphone light in the air."
He immediately received backlash for his remarks from gay rights activists and officials at leading Aids charity the Terence Higgins Trust, and now Sir Elton is weighing in on the controversy, criticizing DaBaby for adding to "stigma and discrimination."
"We've been shocked to read about the HIV misinformation and homophobic statements made at a recent DaBaby show," he wrote on Instagram. "This fuels stigma and discrimination and is the opposite of what our world needs to fight the AIDS epidemic."
"HIV misinformation and homophobia have no place in the music industry. We must break down the stigma around HIV and not spread it. As musicians, it's our job to bring people together."
He also listed a string of facts about HIV and Aids.
Elton's criticism came shortly after fellow singer Dua Lipa reacted to the controversy. "I'm surprised and horrified at DaBaby's comments. I really don't recognize this as the person I worked with," she noted in her Instagram Story. "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."
DaBaby has now apologized for his onstage remarks, tweeting, "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 [sic]."
