DaBaby meets with HIV advocates amid backlash over anti-LGBTQ remarks

DaBaby apologized for anti-LGBTQ remarks about people with HIV during a meeting with GLAAD and Black HIV advocates from various organizations Tuesday morning, according to a joint statement released by the groups in attendance.

The meeting, which took place virtually, came nearly a month after dozens of organizations reached out to the rapper in an Aug. 4 open letter, asking to meet with him over controversial remarks he made while performing last month at the Rolling Loud Festival in Miami.

"DaBaby was genuinely engaged, apologized for the inaccurate and hurtful comments he made about people living with HIV, and received our personal stories and the truth about HIV and its impact on Black and LGBTQ communities with deep respect," the groups said in a statement released by GLAAD.

ABC News has reached out to DaBaby’s representatives for comment.

According to GLAAD, 125 organizations had signed on to the open letter to the rapper by Aug. 25 as the backlash continued to mount.

"We heard your inaccurate and harmful comments at Rolling Loud and have read your Instagram apology," the groups wrote in the letter. "However, at a time when HIV continues to disproportionately impact Black Americans and queer and transgender people of color, a dialogue is critical."

During the meeting, leaders from groups such as the Black AIDS Institute, Gilead Sciences COMPASS Initiative Coordinating Centers and the National Minority AIDS Council provided DaBaby with facts about HIV, and some also shared their personal stories about what it’s like to live with HIV.

"DaBaby's willingness to listen, learn and grow can open the door to an entirely new generation of people to do the same," said Marnina Miller, a community outreach coordinator with the Southern AIDS Coalition who participated in the meeting.

"Ending HIV stigma requires doing the hard work of changing hearts and minds, and often that begins with something as simple as starting a dialogue. We hope DaBaby will use his platform to educate his fans and help end the epidemic," she added.

DaBaby's remarks, which included misinformation about HIV, were widely criticized as homophobic by civil rights groups and fellow artists, prompting the rapper to apologize to the LGBTQ community on Twitter and then in an Instagram post, which was later deleted.

"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. So my apologies," he tweeted on July 27. "But the LGBT community... I ain’t trippin on y’all, do you. y’all business is y’all business."

The rapper, whose given name is Jonathan Kirk, was criticized by artists, including Elton John, for spreading misinformation about HIV and fueling the stigma around the virus.

"HIV misinformation and homophobia have no place in the music industry," John said. "We must break down the stigma around HIV and not spread it. As musicians, it's our job to bring people together."

Some artists removed his features from their songs, and several festivals, including Lollapalooza in Chicago and New York City's Governors Ball, canceled his appearances.

But last week, he returned to the stage at Hot 97’s Summer Jam 2021 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where he addressed his comments, saying he “never, ever meant to offend anybody.”

According to the 2021 State of HIV Stigma Study released last week by GLAAD and Gilead Sciences, 48% of American adults feel knowledgeable about HIV and 87% believe there is still stigma around HIV.