DaBaby’s ‘Levitating’ Remix W/ Dua Lipa Is Being Pulled From Radio Stations Amid Aftermath Of Homophobic Comments

August 5, 2021 by C.J. in Music with 0 Comments

DaBaby’s ‘Levitating’ Remix W/ Dua Lipa Is Being Pulled From Radio Stations Amid Aftermath Of Homophobic Comments

The fallout from DaBaby’s homophobic remarks has gone from the rapper being pulled from music festivals to him being yanked from radio airplay.

According to Billboard, DaBaby’s “Levitating” remix with Dua Lipa has been pulled from several radio stations. The radio audience went from 70.2% on July 27 to 49.5% on Monday (Aug. 2). Radio programmers are reportedly dropping the remix, which was released in October 2020, and opting to play Dua Lipa’s solo version of the song that was released in March 2020. It was noted that Dua Lipa’s song is still a major hit as airplay for all versions only suffered a small decline from an audience of 12.3 million on July 20 to a little more than 12 million on Aug. 2.

While the song has also been remixed with Madonna and Missy Elliott, DaBaby’s version was the most popular before his remarks and acquired 79% of the hit’s on-demand streams, which totaled more than 650 million across all versions.

The second-largest radio franchise in the U.S., Audacy, confirmed that it pulled the remix “in light of DaBaby’s homophobic statements.”

Will Calder, branding and programming director for Cox Media Group’s Hot 101.5 in Tampa and 95.3 in Orlando, said he took similar action.

“We pulled everything. I couldn’t allow that stuff to air on my radio stations and be justified with the support of the community. We switched to the version without DaBaby immediately. It’s times like these that really show what matter outside of the one Pride month that’s designated out of the year.”

Jeremy Rice, branding and programming director for Long Island, N.Y.’s WBLI, said the station removed the remix and only played the original two days after DaBaby’s controversial remarks.

“His comments were just plain wrong, and hurtful. It wasn’t a difficult decision. We haven’t done a huge press release. We just think it’s the right thing to do.”

He added that the radio station solicited feedback from listeners via social media, asking for their thoughts on the removal of the remix.