Rapper DaBaby has faced backlash over his new music video for “Save Me,” which reenacts the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on public transport in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 23-year-old was killed on August 22 while riding the Lynx Blue Line, allegedly stabbed by Decarlos Brown Jr., who now faces criminal charges. Zarutska had fled Ukraine in 2022.
The video opens with actual surveillance footage of Zarutska boarding the train in her pizzeria uniform. It then cuts to dramatised scenes with actors portraying Zarutska and her alleged attacker, who wears a red hoodie similar to Brown’s. DaBaby, wearing a black hoodie, sits next to the attacker and raps lines including “Think you could save me like your God or something?” and “Better stay out my face cause I’m a man and I will bleed you down.”
In a fictionalised ending, DaBaby intervenes to stop the attack, preventing the stabbing that actually killed Zarutska. The YouTube caption reads “A dedication to Iryna Zarutska” and includes a GoFundMe link for her family, which has raised over $437,000.
The video has divided opinion online. Some praised DaBaby for drawing attention to the tragedy, with one YouTube comment saying “I'm glad a celebrity finally brought some attention to what happened.” Others criticised it as exploitative, with an Instagram user calling it “VERY insensitive” and another asking “Who on your team thought this was a good idea?”
DaBaby, whose real name is Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, has a history of controversy, including a homophobic rant at Rolling Loud in 2021 that led to festival cancellations.
