Rapper DaBaby has found himself at the center of a major firestorm after releasing his latest music video for “Save Me,” which reimagines the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska. The video, posted Tuesday, has garnered hundreds of thousands of views but also a wave of backlash for turning a very real and very recent tragedy into artistic content. In the video, DaBaby takes on the role of a bystander who intervenes to stop the attack, rewriting the tragic outcome.
The original incident occurred aboard a Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) train last month. Surveillance footage, which went viral at the time, showed Zarutska sitting alone while a man behind her suddenly pulled out a knife. The video cuts off just before the man plunges the knife into her neck, but the footage has haunted viewers across social media.
In DaBaby’s fictional retelling, things take a different turn. The rapper portrays a passenger who sees the attack about to unfold. He grabs the would-be assailant’s hand, stopping the stabbing in progress. In a surreal twist, he then leads the potential killer off the train and walks him past police officers on the platform.
The scene closes with a heavy line from DaBaby: “Man, we can’t save ‘em. You know what I’m sayin’? I might be one of them.” The statement seems to grapple with the weight of responsibility and helplessness, but not everyone is convinced the message landed the way it should have.
Many online felt the move crossed a serious line. Critics argue that using a woman’s violent and very public death as a backdrop for a music video is not only in poor taste, but also exploitative.
The murder of Zarutska has already sparked intense political debate, with high-level officials, including those in the White House, pointing fingers at local leadership and broader policy issues.
While DaBaby may have intended the video as a tribute or a commentary on community responsibility, many feel the execution missed the mark.
