If chart-topping rapper DaBaby thought his popularity and street cred would shield him from the consequences of his homophobic attacks, the past weeks must have felt like a hard slap — and thank God for that. With luck, the fast reaction will become the blueprint for how corporate interests handle celebrities wont to say stupid things as they flirt with mainstream exposure.
The music industry acted with uncharacteristic speed, dropping the rapper whose real name is Jonathan Kirk from the Lollapalooza lineup following his indefensible and nonsensical comments about gay people and HIV at the Rolling Loud festival in Miami late last month.
“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,” he was quoted as saying at the final day of the festival on July 25.
The Lolla cancellation was another step in the avalanche for the North Carolina performer, as six other music festivals soon scrubbed his scheduled appearances as media outlets announced the latest example of “cancel culture.”
Unfortunately for the rapper, his words come at a time of great cultural shift in the U.S., as Generation X and millennials begin taking over for the baby boomers.
The ascensions of the nation’s first Black president, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump have triggered volatile discussions regarding race, gender, sexual orientation and privilege. Things remain tense among families squabbling over election results, lifestyle or vaccinations.
Reviled by conservatives as political correctness run amok, cancel culture has much to teach DaBaby and other fledgling artists and social media stars eager to share their toxic and spiteful viewpoints while publicly seeking vindication.
Of course, the music industry that once gouged music fans for $20 CDs isn’t acting altruistically in condemning hateful rhetoric, trying to evade controversy while making the most cash possible. DaBaby’s words betrayed the basic and transactional nature of entertainment, where stars are paid handsomely by the public for their artistic contributions, not their animosity toward a certain group of people.
While DaBaby’s comments aren’t likely to lose him his young, mostly die-hard fans drawn by his cocky swagger, it could very much rob him of access to a wider audience, along with cash and security.
With some fine-tuning, being canceled could feel like a hard smack on the back of the head snapping you to attention, rather than a blade to your throat that ends your career and fan relationships. These are extra-sensitive times for the American culture war.
We don’t need a fame guillotine to indiscriminately chop down anyone saying anything the least bit controversial. But how about a clockwork-like system that gives the accused a chance to explain themselves before they’re indefinitely sent to their timeout corners?
In DaBaby’s case, the actions by the music industry only came after his clarification of his comments two days after the Miami festival inflamed the issue and he missed a deadline for posting a video apology. This feels like a correct way to handle these type of public scandals: Give the artist the chance to clarify or apologize for comments that didn’t land as intended.
There are countless examples of fired and silenced celebrities, from Gina Carano, who was fired from “The Mandalorian” for tweets deriding mask wearing and suggesting fraud in the 2020 election, and country singer Morgan Wallen, for saying the N-word in a video, to Academy Award-winner Matt Damon for a controversy of his own making.
Canceling isn’t necessarily permanent, as seen by comedian Louis CK, who has returned to doing performances, though at much smaller venues than he had before a sex scandal halted his rise in Hollywood.
DaBaby would do well to learn the lessons of “The Suicide Squad” director James Gunn, who said he was humbled after he was briefly canceled after past tweets led to his firing from Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise.
“It was unbelievable. And for a day, it seemed like everything was gone. Everything was gone,” Gunn told The New York Times. “I was going to have to sell my house. I was never going to be able to work again. That’s what it felt like.”
As a rising music star born of the internet age, the sooner DaBaby learns that folks standing on fame’s mountaintop have different responsibilities than regular working schlubs, the better.
We will likely see and hear from DaBaby again, though only time will tell whether he gained any wisdom from his canceled summer gigs. If he’s not contrite or even the slightest bit self-aware, cancel culture will no doubt raise its open hand and he’ll have to brace for another hard hit.
