Cardi B is under fire after a transphobic meme appeared on her verified Facebook page on Saturday, but the rapper better known as Belcalis Almanzar is speaking out in response to the backlash.
The post in question included a photo of a cartoon character staring out of a window, with the caption “I hope nobody see this t***** leave my house,” followed by laughing emojis. Fans expressed their disappointment with the Bronx-born rapper in the Facebook comments and across Twitter after the post went viral.
On Sunday, Cardi took to social media to address the controversy. “It’s come to my attention that there have been offensive posts made on what used to be my Facebook page,” she wrote on Twitter. “For the past year and a half a FORMER team member has been the only one with access to the account.”
In addition to the tweet, Cardi B posted a screen capture of what is allegedly a direct message conversation with the former employee who posted the meme (the video has since been deleted from her Instagram). “I don’t understand why ya still running that account without my permission,” she wrote in the exchange, expressing her frustration over the situation. The former employee said, “Even though I have a staff of really great social media experts ultimately I take full responsibility for that super BLUNDER fuckup because I represent my company.”
In the caption of the video, Cardi explained she’s learned from previous criticism over her use of the slur, alluding to a controversial 2017 incident. “After the last time the LGBTQ community educated me on the right and wrong way to say things I would never forget that,” she said. “This was the mistake of another individual an I apologize for them!” Cardi also caught heat after she defended her husband Offset for his use of a homophobic slur in the YFN Lucci song “Boss Life” in early 2018.
Remezcla will update this post if more information becomes available.