Freewater Free-For-All as DaBaby’s Security Fights Fans in New Orleans

Saturday's Freewater Block Party at Mardi Gras World featured fights, sound issues, and $4 water bottles

Midway through DaBaby’s (Jonathan Lyndale Kirk) set at Mardi Gras World in New Orleans for the Freewater Block Party on Saturday, the rapper and his security team found themselves in a scuffle with the crowd.

Rapper DaBaby was part of a lineup for a day-long mini-festival that also included performances by RL Grime, Rico Nasty, What So Not, graves, and other electronic and hip-hop artists. After complaining about sound issues and needing to turn the music down, DaBaby ripped off his shirt and repeatedly got close to the barricade between himself and fans. 

Footage from the event shows a woman attendee getting punched unconscious by DaBaby’s security team after he jumped into the crowd, the reason for which is unconfirmed. 

Unfortunately, this woman was not the only fan harmed during DaBaby’s foray into the crowd at the Freewater Block Party. Seen limping after the event, Quincy Hoak and her sister, Katie, had also been roughed around by DaBaby’s security team. Quincy Hoak said, “His security guard pushed [Katie] to the ground. Big guy. I saw her go down and was screaming, ‘Stop!’ to the people who were trampling her, then they pushed me to the ground.”

Shortly after the altercation, a member of the Freewater Block Party security team involved in the incident said, “When I was helping Baby down, the crowd over there started swinging. His private security, he hit two people in the crowd. Looks like they were trying to snatch his chain, that’s why they started fighting.”

The day after the Freewater Block Party, the multimedia company behind the event, Freewater Studios, responded with an official statement: “Last night, there was an incident between DaBaby’s security and an attendee at the Freewater Block Party. On-site police and event security responded to the situation, quickly escorting the attendee to an on-site EMT where she was treated.”

This was not the first altercation between DaBaby’s team and fans. A couple weeks ago, a fan was pummeled at the Val Air Ballroom in Des Moines, Iowa. On May 17, DaBaby’s team beat rapper Don Trag into a coma shortly before DaBaby was supposed to perform. Don Trag was listed as an opener for the same event. 

Neither DaBaby nor his record label, Interscope Records, has commented on the incident.