DaBaby performing in Atlanta, Dec. 2021.
Paras Griffin/Getty ImagesA battery case against DaBaby in Las Vegas has been dismissed, according to online court records.
The case was dismissed with prejudice — meaning it can’t be brought again — on Dec. 1. The charge stemmed from a Nov. 2020 incident during which DaBaby (real name Jonathan Kirk) allegedly hit a Las Vegas driver during a ride. Along with the dismissal of the charges, Kirk was ordered to pay $7,500 in restitution to his accuser, Timothy Cobb.
Lawyers for Kirk, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said in a statement, “Mr. Kirk denied the allegations and came to court prepared to fight the case at trial. In court, the case was dismissed with prejudice.”
Kirk has faced several legal issues in the past, most notably a 2018 incident where he fatally shot a 19-year-old man in a North Carolina Walmart. Kirk claimed he was acting in self-defense, and he was ultimately not charged in the man’s death; he was, however, found guilty of a misdemeanor weapons charge.
In 2020, Kirk was arrested and questioned over an alleged robbery in Miami after an altercation with promoters at a venue where he was set to perform. The promoters had reportedly promised Kirk $30,000 for the appearance, but he was allegedly only given $20,000; a verbal and physical altercation erupted over the discrepancy with Kirk allegedly punching one of the promoters. Kirk was charged with battery in the incident, though those charges were eventually dropped.
The dismissal of the Las Vegas battery case comes at the end of a tumultuous 2021 for Kirk. The rapper faced intense scrutiny this summer after making misogynistic, homophobic, and ill-informed comments about AIDS victims at Rolling Loud Miami. While DaBaby lost a handful of major festival slots in the backlash, he maintained plenty of support and recently kicked off a North American tour with the support of Rolling Loud. In November, Kirk was involved in a live-streamed fracas with DaniLeigh, the singer and mother of his child (charges were filed against DaniLeigh, but none against Kirk).
NEWS
Placebo have kicked off their 30th anniversary tour by dusting off some tracks for the first time in over 20 years, and also playing new single ‘Helen Keller’ live for the first time.
The new dates come as the band are celebrating the 30 years since they dropped their 1996 debut album. To mark the occasion, they have announced a huge UK and European arena tour, where they have vowed to predominantly play material from their first album and their sophomore record ‘Without You I’m Nothing’.
At the opening night at Krakatoa in Mérignac, France, Brian Molko and co. delivered a stacked 19-song set, which began with ‘Pure Morning’, and immediately went into the first rendition of ‘Come Home’ in 20 years.
Another rarity came straight after, with the first live performance of ‘You Don’t Care About Us’ since 2001, as well as ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ and ‘Allergic (To Thoughts Of Mother Earth)’ which were played for the first time since 2018 and 2014 respectively.
‘Drowning by Numbers’, ‘Bruise Pristine’ and ‘My Sweet Prince’ were all introduced into the setlist for the first time since 2001, ‘Brick Shithouse’ was aired out for the first time since 2003, ‘Scared Of Girls’ was played for the first time since 2010, and both ‘Lady Of The Flowers’ and ‘36 Degrees’ were broken out for the first time in nine years.
The rest of the set was made up of ‘Teenage Angst’, ‘Bionic’, ‘I Know’ and ‘Every You Every Me’, and the band wrapped up the performance with two covers: Depeche Mode’s ‘I Feel You’, and Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’.
It wasn’t until a later show at the Super Bock Arena in Porto, Portugal, that Placebo broke out their new song ‘Helen Keller’ for the first time – playing it 13 songs into the setlist.
Check out more footage from the tour so far below, as well as the setlist from night one.
‘Pure Morning’
‘Come Home’ (First time since 2006)
‘You Don’t Care About Us'(First Time Since 2001)
‘Teenage Angst’
‘Bionic’
‘Without You I’m Nothing” (First Time Since 2018)
‘Allergic (to Thoughts of Mother Earth)” (First Time Since 2014)
‘Drowning by Numbers” (First Time Since 2001)
’36 Degrees” (Alternate Version – First Time Since 2017)
‘I Know’
‘Brick Shithouse’ (First Time Since 2003)
‘Scared of Girls’ (First Time Since 2010)
‘Bruise Pristine” (First Time Since 2001)
‘My Sweet Prince’ (First Time Since 2001)
‘Lady of the Flowers’ (First time since 2017)
‘Nancy Boy’
‘Every You Every Me’
‘I Feel You’ (Depeche Mode cover, live debut)
‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’ (Kate Bush cover)
Placebo dropped the single ‘Helen Keller’ on September 28, and it sees them reach back to ‘H.K. Farewell’, a hidden instrumental from the era of their self-titled 1996 debut. In the track, they retain the eerie keyboard melody from the original, and push it to new dimensions with a heavier, more anguished feeling.
The title refers to the American author, who was also a disability rights advocate and political activist, who became deafblind as a young child and went on to become an internationally renowned writer and campaigner.
As well as the tour, Placebo also celebrated the 30th anniversary of their debut by releasing a reimagined version of the record. For the LP, Molko and Stefan Olsdal returned to the original master tapes and reworked all 10 songs from the 1996 record – describing it as a “director’s cut” that helped them inject the original songs with three decades more experience.
The ongoing tour will reach the UK and Ireland in late November and early December, where they will play Nottingham, Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester, London and Cardiff. See all the dates here and find any remaining tickets here.
Dates will head to Latin America in 2027, beginning in São Paulo on February 20 and running through Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Colombia before wrapping up with shows in Guadalajara and Monterrey in March.
Placebo dropped their last album of new material in 2022, with ‘Never Let Me Go’. That record was given a four-star review by NME, which described it as “a renaissance rock record with an experimental edge”, adding that it found Placebo “inspired and ready for a new era”.
