DaBaby dropped a video for his new song “Save Me” and straight away it lit up controversy. The video reenacts the August 22 stabbing on Charlotte’s Blue Line light rail in which 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was killed. DaBaby frames the song as a dedication to her. The video begins with real news and surveillance footage of the incident. Then actors portray Zarutska, the accused killer Decarlos Brown Jr., and DaBaby inserts himself into the narrative, playing a character that intervenes to stop the attack. In reality no one saved her.
The idea sounds noble at a glance. Honor a victim. Raise awareness. Link to GoFundMe for her family. But the backlash came fast. Many users on social media accused him of using a brutal tragedy for clicks and fame. The core gripe is this. The real event ended in loss. The video gives an alternate ending. Does that shift the trauma or numb it? Some say yes. Some say he overstepped.
Then there is the filming itself. Charlotte’s Area Transit System says DaBaby did not have permission to shoot on the train. Security officers seen in the video are said to have been escorting the crew off the vehicle during or after filming began.
Iryna Zarutska fled war in Ukraine seeking safety. She had a degree in art restoration. She worked multiple jobs in the U.S. before tragedy struck. Brown Jr. faces state first-degree murder charges and a federal count tied to violence on mass transit.
This moment forces a question. When does art honoring a victim cross into exploitation? When the victim did not survive. When there was no intervention. When the dramatization rewrites reality. When filming is done without consent. Some see DaBaby’s video as brave and empathetic. Others see tone deaf opportunism.
DaBaby has done controversial things before. He knows backlash. But this feels different. Because actual life ended. Because images of death are still raw. Because giving yourself hero credit in a storyline where no hero existed is risky territory. Either way the conversation is loud. And maybe that was part of the point.
