Cardi B has addressed rumors that her recent maternity photos contained a subtle dig at her longtime rival, Nicki Minaj. The 31-year-old rapper shared a New York City-themed photoshoot on September 1, and quickly responded to online speculation about the graffiti seen in the background.
“First of all, we literally picked a random street because paparazzi were hounding us everywhere,” Cardi explained. She clarified that the initial image was leaked, forcing her team to quickly edit the photos. “We didn’t have time to go over every detail as people were busy trying to expose my pregnancy as an ‘aha’ moment.”
She also dismissed the notion that she was using her maternity shoot to make a statement: “Second, I’m ALWAYS with the s–ts but I’m not using MY MATERNITY shoot to be funny. Are you dumb??”
Cardi B’s maternity photoshoot featured her posing on a motorcycle, wearing a royal blue leather jacket and thigh-high boots. However, the graffiti in the background sparked heated discussion online. The brick wall behind her featured the words “Homesick pedophile,” leading some fans to speculate it was a dig at Nicki Minaj, referencing her brother Jelani Maraj, who was convicted in 2017 of predatory sexual assault on a child and sentenced to 25 years to life in 2020.
Cardi faced criticism for not noticing the offensive graffiti, but defended herself, explaining that it was an honest oversight due to time constraints. “A team?? [Bitch] my makeup artist touched up the picture because we didn’t have time for all that, it says the date and time nobody was paying attention to the graffiti,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on September 2.
She further added, “If I wanted to be petty, I would’ve posted a lot of memes last week… I KEEP TELLIN YALL TO LEAVE ME THE F–K ALONE!! If I’m saying I’m not on that time, DONT MAKE ME GET ON THAT TIME.”
