Cardi Bsays she’s not “proud” of her past in response to the backlash she’s received after saying she used to drug and rob men when she was a stripper.
In aresurfaced video from three years ago, Cardi, 26, opened up about the extreme lengths she went to in order to “make a living.”
In the clip, Cardi said, “I had to go strip, I had to go, ‘Oh yeah, you want to f— me? Yeah, yeah, yeah, let’s go back to this hotel,’ and I drugged n—– up, and I robbed them. That’s what I used to do.”
The video prompted a number of people to express their disappointment in the “Bodak Yellow” rapper on Twitter, prompting the star torespond to the criticismon Instagram.
“So I’m seeing on social media that a live I did 3 years ago has popped back up. A live where I talked about things I had to do in my past right or wrong that I felt I needed to do make a living,” Cardi wrote.
“I never claim to be perfect or come from a perfect world wit [sic] a perfect past I always speak my truth — I always own my s—.”
Cardi B/Instagram
“I’m a part of hip hop culture where you can talk about where you came from, talk about the wrong things you had to do to get where you are. There are rappers that glorify murder, violence, drugs [and] robbing. Crimes they feel they had to do to survive,” Cardi continued.
Cardi went on to explain that the things she did were made because she had “very limited options.”
However, she has since learned from her mistakes. “I was blessed to have been able to rise from that, but so many women have not. Whether or not they were poor choices at the time I did what I had to do to survive.”
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images For dcp
She did, however, backtrack on her statement that she drugged the men up, saying they were never unconscious.
“The men I spoke about in my live were men that I dated that I was involve[d] with, men that were conscious, willing and aware. I have a past that I can’t change — we all do.”
“All I can do now is be a better me for myself my family and my future,” Cardi captioned the post. Cardi and her husbandOffsetare parents to 8-month-old daughterKulture Kiari.
A representative for Cardi did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Cardi spoke out about the video after fans created the hashtag #SurvivingCardiB, in reference to the Lifetime docu-seriesSurviving R. Kelly, which shed light on the years of alleged sexual abuseR. Kellyinflicted on young women.
“I just don’t understand how she can get away with ALL these crimes she did. Really disgusting. Really sad. #survivingcardib,” one userwrote.
“Why isn’t anyone talking about #CardiB and her drugging men then robbing them… like if this were a man for example… this would be a different story. waiting for #survivingcardib,” anothertweetread.
Cardi previously spoke about being an exotic dancer last year. In the April 2018 issue ofCosmopolitan, the rapper addressed why she’s open to speaking about herpole-dancing days: “People say, ‘Why do you always got to say that you used to be a stripper? We get it.’ Because y’all don’t respect me because of it, and y’all going to respect these strippers from now on… Just because somebody was a stripper don’t mean they don’t have no brain.”
Cardi B.
Last week, it was announced that Cardi willmake her film debutin an upcoming drama titledHustlersalongsideJennifer Lopez,Deadline reported.
The duo, who recently collaborated on the track “Dinero,” will star in the flick following revenge-seeking strippers, who band together with a group of fellow exotic dancers to scam their male Wall Street clients out of thousands of dollars, according to the outlet.
The story is set in New York City during the financial crisis of the early 2000s.
Crazy Rich AsiansstarConstance WuandRiverdale‘sLili Reinhartwill also be joining Lopez, 49, and Cardi on screen as well asKeke PalmerandJulia Stiles, according to Deadline andVariety.
source: people.com
