Cardi B reflects on getting “harassed” and “almost sued” over ‘WAP’ Grammys performance

3 July, 2023

Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B performing 'WAP' live onstage at the 2021 Grammy Awards

Cardi B has reflected on the backlash she received following her 2021 Grammy Awards performance of ‘WAP’.

Back in 2020, Cardi B teamed up with Megan Thee Stallion to release ‘WAP’ – a raunchy track that topped the charts across the globe. The duo then later made headlines with their performance of the hit single at the 63rd Grammys, delivering a medley of their own songs before hitting the stage together for ‘WAP’.

While they weren’t nominated for an award that year – with Cardi B “blaming the internet” for not submitting the song it to the Academy – their performance did prove strongly divisive. Taking to Twitter, Cardi B recently reminded her followers of the struggle she faced afterwards.

“Y’all remember when the FCC almost sued me [because] I performed ‘WAP’ at the Grammys? What about when all the Republicans literally harassed me over it? On the news every day… Y’all remember? Oooohhh [because] I do,” she tweeted.

According to the FCC [Federal Communications Commission], more than 1000 people complained about Cardi and Megan Thee Stallion’s Grammy performance. Many angry viewers thought the performance was “obscene” and “pornographic.”

Cardi responded to the complaints, hitting back at naysayers on Twitter: “The Grammys are PG, that means parental guidance, meaning [it’s] your job – like it is to mine to my child – to monitor what they watch. My performance was around 10 pm on a Sunday. Your child should be in bed ready for school the next day. Why are they up watching ‘WAP’?”

Many Republicans compared the song and performance to banned racist Dr. Seuss books, saying that both are just as harmful to children. The frontman of the Christian rock band Skillet, John Cooper, compared Cardi’s 2021 Grammy performance to the speeches of Adolf Hitler. Also, he mentioned that “there are certain Dr Seuss books” that are “too evil” and saw no difference in Cardi and Megan’s alleged on-stage “sexual degradation.”

The Dr Seuss comparisons further infuriated Cardi B, who took to Twitter again, writing: “When has a school made kids read the lyrics to ‘WAP’? I get it, ‘WAP’ might be a lil vulgar but stop comparing a sensual song to books that have RACIST content! How can ya not tell the difference? I see that common sense ain’t that common.

She continued: “Conservatives [have] been making viral tweets comparing ‘WAP’ to the banning of some of Dr Seuss books as if there’s any correlations between the two… Well, I can DEFINITELY tell some of ya ONLY read Dr Seuss books [because] ya mind lacks comprehension.”

Fellow entertainment figures have received backlash for their negative comments on ‘WAP’, including Snoop Dogg, Russell Brand and right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro.

In December 2020, Megan Thee Stallion said that the controversy surrounding the song came from a place of “fear and insecurity”. She said, “Some people just don’t know what to do when a woman is in control and taking ownership of her own body.”

At the end of 2020, NME crowned ‘WAP’ the Number One track of the year, writing: “The song has succeeded in pissing off the kind of prudes who wither with disgust every time a woman dares to centre her own sexual desire.”

Last summer, Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B performed ‘WAP’ during the latter’s headline set at Wireless Festival 2022.

Meanwhile, in the following October, Cardi and Madonna reconciled after the latter claimed that she “paved the way” for the New Yorker “to sing about her WAP”.

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