Dominic Smithers
DaBaby has responded to accusations that he forcible kissed a fan in viral footage.
The footage, which is believed to have been captured back in February, shows the rapper speaking with crowds of fans, who are standing behind a railing.
In the video, DaBaby - real name Jonathan Lyndale Kirk - spots a woman in the group and grabs hold of her head.
People on social media have claimed he was attempting to give her a kiss, and she seemingly manages to pull free of his grip and he moves away.
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You can watch the video below, plus a longer clip from the same night which DaBaby says gives more context:
The original video recently went viral, with people calling the artist out for it.
Posting it on Twitter, one user wrote: "DaBaby tried to kiss his fan and she curved him LMAO."
However, the 30-year-old has now come out and denied any wrongdoing.
In a post to his Instagram Stories, he shared The Shade Room's post of the video, asking: "Who be making this cap ass s**t up bruh???"
He then reshared his own video from the same night, adding: "Me and my booboos love each other to death but ain’t no kissin goin on."
Commenting on The Shade Room's post, DaBaby further explained, writing: "Bae was upset that I blew a kiss at her lil buddy first. I’m sorry bae."
But Kirk isn't any stranger to controversy.
Last year, he hit the headlines following a performance in Florida, during which he made a number of comments about the LGBTQ+ community.
In a video that surfaced online, DaBaby can be heard encouraging people to use their mobile phone lights, but on a handful of conditions
He told people to only do this if they ‘didn’t show up today with HIV/AIDS or other STDs that’ll make you die in 2-3 weeks’, and told male members of the crowd to put their phones up if they ‘didn’t suck a n***** d*ck in the parking lot’.
He later received a lot of criticism for his remarks.
One person wrote on Twitter: "DaBaby has some explaining to do. I’m just really bothered by what he said. To refer to HIV and AIDS as a 'deadly disease' that kills people in '2-3 weeks' is disgusting and dangerous at best. Like. Why would you say that?"
Meanwhile, singer Shamir wrote: "Why you THAT concerned with gay people’s sex lives? I assure you it never once crossed my mind to start talking about straight men’s sexual health while on stage… "
Defending his comments, the singer later wrote on Instagram: "I wasn’t going on no rant, it was a call to action. That’s what that’s called because I’m a live performer. I’m the best live performer. […] You interact with your fans, you get what I’m saying?
"All the lights went up – gay or straight. You wanna’ know why? Because even my gay fans don’t get f**king AIDS. Stupid ass n******. They don’t got AIDS. My gay fans, they take care of themselves – they ain’t no nasty n***** gays. They ain’t no junkies."
UNILAD has reached out to DaBaby's representatives for a comment.
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