Elton John is speaking out against rapper DaBaby, who recently made headlines following a homophobic rant during a festival performance.
During his set at the Rolling Loud festival on Sunday (July 25), DaBaby said, “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. 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.”
The homophobic comments got the attention of Sir Elton who shared the following thread to Twitter:
“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. The facts are:
-HIV has affected over 70 million people globally: men, women, children and the most vulnerable people in our communities.
-In America, a gay black man has a 50% lifetime chance of contracting HIV. Stigma and shame around HIV and homosexuality is a huge driver of this vulnerability. We need to break down the myths and judgements and not fuel these.
-You can live a long and healthy life with HIV. Treatment is so advanced that with one pill a day, HIV can become undetectable in your body so you can’t pass it onto other people.
-Homophobic and HIV mistruths have no place in our society and industry and as musicians, we must spread compassion and love for the most marginalised people in our communities. A musician’s job is to bring people together.”
(1/5) 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.
The facts are: pic.twitter.com/MqCv3vWiz2
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) July 28, 2021