DaBaby’s “ignorance” has earned him da-acceptance of the LGBTQ — but the community is content on giving comedian Dave Chappelle da-boot.
In the months since the “Red Light Green Light” lyricist spewed a hateful, homophobic and HIV/AIDS-targeted tirade during his set at Miami’s Rolling Loud Festival in July, inclusivity and awareness nonprofit organization Relationship Unleashed has granted the rapper the green light to continue performing after finding he was merely unaware of the damaging effects of his comments.
“He’s learned a lot over the past few months,” Relationship Unleashed CEO Gwendolyn D. Clemons explained to TMZ about DaBaby.
She claims the 29-year-old Grammy-nominated emcee “did not understand what he was saying,” when he encouraged Rolling Loud attendees to put their cellphone lights in the air if “you didn’t show up today with HIV/AIDS or other STDs that’ll make you die in 2 to 3 weeks” and “Fellas, if you didn’t suck a n – – – – d – – k in the parking lot.”
Instead, Clemons believes DaBaby’s off-the-cuff rant was spawned out of “ignorance,” which she says has since been corrected thanks to the insightful meetings he has had with members of her organization and other LGBTQ advocates.
In fact, Clemons is so confident in the “Rockstar” rhymer’s reformation that she and her fellow LGBTQ allies confidently approved his showcase at New York City’s Rolling Loud concert last weekend — and any future shows.
Comedian Dave Chappelle, however, isn’t getting off so easy.
Clemons says unlike DaBaby, Chappelle, 48, knows “exactly what he’s doing” by refusing to show remorse or empathy for spouting transphobic hate-speech throughout his controversial Netflix special “The Closer.”
She and her cohorts feel Chappelle used the stand-up film to disguise his prejudices as comedy — he even worked DaBaby’s controversial remarks and 2018 fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man inside a North Carolina Walmart into his routine — and that he attempted to “gaslight”’ audiences into “bigoted points of view.”
And rather than apologizing to those he offended, Chappelle has agreed to meet with members of the transgender community under his specified terms.
“To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me. I am not bending to anybody’s demands,” the comedian said in an Instagram clip last week.
“If you wanna meet with me, I’d be more than willing to, but I have conditions. First of all, you cannot come, if you have not watched my special from beginning to end,” he added. “You must come to a place of my choosing and a time of my choosing.”
The professional joker’s last requirement came as an unveiled broadside to fellow comedian Hannah Gadsby — who has openly criticized him amid his anti-trans kerfuffle.
“And thirdly,” Chappelle said, “you must admit, that Hannah Gadsby is not funny.”
So far, no official LGBTQ community heads have openly agreed to comply with the embattled jokester’s demands.