Lil Baby’s camp is setting the record straight on his purported Pride performance in Washington, D.C.
Earlier this month, organizers for Pride in the District announced the Atlanta rapper had been booked for its May 28 event at Bravo Bravo. But the excitement quickly turned to disappointment when Pride in the District confirmed Baby will not participate in the Memorial Day weekend festivities, which led some to believe the rapper had pulled out of the gig due to homophobic backlash.
Lil Baby’s team has since clarified that the Pride performance was never canceled…because it was never booked.
“He never even knew of this event and none of his team or agents were ever in contact with Pride In the District,” his representative said in a statement to the Neighborhood Talk. “A scammer must have posed as a rep of his. Lil Baby never pulled out of anything with this as he was never booked or contacted in the first place.”
Pride in the District issued a statement apologizing for the confusion but reassured ticket-holders the show would go on.
“We have finally reached someone from his camp and we were informed that Lil Baby and his agency WME were not aware of the PITD booking and have come to the conclusion that we were in fact scammed by someone posing to be a booking agent,” the organization said in a statement. “We would appreciate it if the individuals calling Lil Baby homophobic would stop immediately because that is simply a personal opinion and simply put, tasteless. … We would like to move forward from this situation and enjoy Pride the way it should be enjoyed. Hopefully, one day we will be able to secure Lil Baby the correct way when his schedule permits. Furthermore, we would like to apologize to Lil Baby, his team, our customers, and anyone else for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
Pride in the District also addressed allegations that they were complicit in the so-called scam. Some Instagram users accused organizers of using Baby’s name to sell tickets, but the team pushed back on the claims, insisting they corrected the mistake immediately after the bogus gig was announced.
“There seems to be a misconception that we wanted to or actually sold tickets for Lil Baby,” it wrote in another statement. “No, we did not sell any tickets for Lil Baby. … No one was able to purchase tickets for this because the flyer was up on our social media for only 30 minutes.”
Pride in the District said it removed the flyer after another D.C.-based promoter confirmed Lil Baby’s team had no knowledge of the booking. The organization claimed the promotional posts were removed so fast that it’s unlikely anyone could’ve purchased tickets to see Baby.
“Simply put, we already sold hundreds of tickets BEFORE all of this even occurred and all our customers can confirm they paid WAY before this incident as we have been selling tickets since January for our program,” the statement continued. “What’s happening here is that other LGBT promotion groups that cater to the same clientele, which are considered competition, are trying to stick a narrative on us to affect our turnout for the weekend.”
Lil Baby has not directly responded to the controversy.
Fans can catch the rapper on his It’s Only Us Tour. The North American trek—which will feature GloRilla, Kid Laroi, and more—will begin next month in Montreal and conclude Sept. 22 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. You can learn more about the tour at Lil Baby’s official website.