Dua Lipa has condemned her musical collaborator DaBaby's homophobic comments about HIV/AIDS, while her fans are calling for him to be removed from the remix of her hit song 'Levitating'.
During his set at Rolling Loud festival over the weekend, DaBaby told the crowd: "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 cell phone light up!"
"Ladies, if your p****y smell like water, put your cell phone light up! Fellas, if you ain't sucking d**k in the parking lot, put your cell phone light up!"
Later, the rapper doubled down on his comments on his Instagram Story.
[My] gay fans don't got f**king AIDS, stupid ass n***as. They don't got AIDS. 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," he said.
In a statement shared to her Instagram story, Dua Lipa said she was "surprised and horrified" by DaBaby's comments, adding: "I really don't recognize this as the person I worked with."
"I know my fans know where my heart lies and that I stand 100 percent with the LGTBQ community. We need to come together to fight the stigma and ignorance around HIV/AIDS.
Dua Lipa's fans called for her to re-record the 'Levitating' remix with a new artist, with Megan Thee Stallion and gay rapper Lil Nas X suggested as better options.
Richard Angell, the campaigns director at the Terrence Higgins Trust, the UK's leading HIV and AIDS charity, said DaBaby's rant "perpetuates HIV-related stigma and discrimination", as well as spreading misinformation.
"It's wrong for people living with HIV to be made to feel lesser or excluded because of their diagnosis - it should be unacceptable in the music industry and in society at large," Angell told BBC.
"You can now live a long, healthy life with HIV thanks to medical progress when you're diagnosed and accessing treatment."
