Cardi B responds to backlash after referring to Met Gala designer as “Asian” rather than by name

9 May, 2024

Cardi B attends The 2024 Met Gala Celebrating "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2024 in New York City.

Cardi B has responded after she faced criticism for referring to the designer of her Met Gala dress as “Asian” rather than by his name.

The moment took place on Monday night (May 6) as the rapper took to the red carpet at the 2024 edition of the Met Gala – held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

While walking the red carpet, the rapper was asked by Emma Chamberlain for Vogue who the creator of the look was. After hesitating for a moment, admitted she forgot his name in the moment and noted: “They’re Asian and everything.”

The dress she wore was put together by Chinese designer, Sensen Lii of Windowsen, and the comments made in the interview soon attracted backlash online, with numerous fans accusing her of being racially insensitive.

Among those to criticise the ‘Bodak Yellow’ rapper was Vogue‘s former managing director Gilbert Cheah. Taking to a comment section on Instagram, the fashion mogul wrote: “For the record and recognition, and no thanks to Cardi B, the designer of her gown is Sensen Lii who’s Chinese.

“The gown took two months to make. I personally think it’s boring and not even on theme but she chose it and should have at least remembered his name and not just that he’s ‘Asian’.”

Now, Cardi B has taken to Instagram to defend herself and the comments she made during the Vogue interview – claiming that she forgot the name as she “had a lot of things on” her mind and wasn’t trying to “be offensive”.

“I want to make this very clear because I see a former director of Vogue trying to be funny… maybe because he felt offended about something, and I see a lot of you guys fake gagging on Twitter. But I want to make this very clear,” she began in the video.

She went on to explain that she was thrown off when she noticed she couldn’t pose on the podium at the event, and “was being rushed to the front of the line” for the interviews, meaning she started to feel “very scared” on the red carpet.

“So when I was getting interviewed, I kind of forgot to pronounce the designer’s name because his name is a little bit complicated. My mind was just racing,” she added.

“I think the former director of Vogue got offended because I said ‘Asian designer’. I said ‘Asian designer’ because I know that the designer was Asian. But I wasn’t sure what nationality the designer was and I feel like it would be offensive if I was to be like ‘Oh some Chinese designer’ or ‘Some Korean designer’ or some ‘Vietnamese designer’ because I don’t want to get somebody’s nationality mixed up. I didn’t say it to be offensive or to get your little speedos in a bunch.”

Later in the video, she criticised Cheah, accusing him of “trying to offend me but actually offending the people behind the scenes”.

“I feel like the designer and my stylist worked really hard for this theme,” she added. “So for you to be kind of shady because [you] offended or whatever, it just proves why you’re the former director.”

In other news about the 2024, Zendaya surprised viewers by reappearing on the carpet for a rare second look, and some fans were left confused after Rihanna didn’t appear at the event, despite teasing her planned outfit earlier this year.

Elsewhere, Swifties were quick to notice how Lana Del Rey posed for photos with Kim Kardashian, despite the pop singer and reality star being in a feud, and comedian and actor Kathy Burke mocked Rita Ora’s outfit, implying that it looked like the beaded curtains that can be bought to prevent flies from entering your house.

As for Cardi B, last month the rapper went viral after she ended up singing Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ over and over on a TikTok livestream, eventually pleading with fans to make it stop.

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