Cardi B blamed a “former team member” for posting a transphobic meme on her official Facebook page on Sunday, September 16, prompting criticism on Twitter and Laverne Cox to speak out.
“It’s come to my attention that there have been offensive posts made on what used to be my Facebook page,” the “Bodak Yellow” rapper, 25, tweeted on Sunday. “For the past year and a half a FORMER team member has been the only one with access to my account.”
It’s come to my attention that there have been offensive posts made on what used to be my Facebook page. For the past year and a half a FORMER team member has been the only one with access to the account.
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) September 16, 2018
The meme posted to her Facebook page on Sunday featured an illustration of a man looking out a window with the words, “I hope nobody see this tr—y leave my house.” It was accompanied by a series of crying laughing emojis and a skull.
It was subsequently deleted but not before several fans criticized the rapper in comments and the hashtag #CardiBIsOverParty made the rounds on Twitter, with several fans tweeting their support for Nicki Minaj in the wake of Cardi’s physical altercation with the “Chun-Li” rapper at a New York Fashion Week event earlier this month.
Shortly afterward Orange Is the New Black star Cox posted a message on Twitter, writing, “I am a huge advocate for free speech but as long as its socially acceptable to make jokes about trans people, to make and share memes disparaging & demeaning trans folks, trans folks will continue to be murdered &denied civil rights. #TransIsBeautiful #transrightsarehumanrights.”
I am a huge advocate for free speech but as long as its socially acceptable to make jokes about trans people, to make and share memes disparaging & demeaning trans folks, trans folks will continue to be murdered &denied civil rights. #TransIsBeautiful #transrightsarehumanrights
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) September 16, 2018
It’s not the first time Cardi has been criticized over using transphobic language. In January she explained that she didn’t realize “tr—y” was an offensive word.
“Like I didn’t know that that was a word that you cannot use, especially because my trans friends use it and growing up, my parents never told me that that was a bad word,” she said in a Twitter live stream. “You know, there’s bad words that your parents teach you that you’re not supposed to say. Nobody taught us that. Nobody taught us that in our school.”
In the same live stream she defended her husband Offset‘s homophobic lyrics on YFN Lucci’s song “Boss Life.”
“I’m not gonna let somebody call him homophobic when I know that he’s not,” Cardi B said. “I’m saying this because I see him around gays, and he treats them with the same respect he treats everybody. He never acts uncomfortable, and he just don’t care.”
