A three-year-old video of rapper Cardi B on Instagram Live recently resurfaced online where the artist admits that she used to drug and rob men whom she would lure to a hotel room with the promise of sex. Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar, said it was a necessary practice to survive when she worked as a stripper.
“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****s up, and I robbed them. That’s what I used to do,” she says in the video clip.
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The shocking video prompted a #SurvivingCardiB hashtag on social media, a reference to alleged sexual abuse committed by R&B singer R. Kelly recently examined in a Lifetime documentary called “Surviving R. Kelly.”
One woman noted that Cardi B’s admission would be headline news if she were a man. “Why isn’t anyone talking about [Cardi B] and her drugging men then robbing them,” she wrote. “Like if this were a man for example… this would be a different story.”
Another female similarly noted: “Imagine if a man admitted to drugging women and robbing them…..whew chille.”
“I just don’t understand how she can get away with ALL these crimes she did. Really disgusting. Really sad,” read a tweet sporting the hashtag.
As noted by Complex, the rapper was seemingly unfazed by the fitting reaction from the public of outrage over her admission.
“Okay I’m off Twitter for a few days. Have fun,” she posted in one tweet. In another, she mocked those trying to “cancel” her.
Under mounting pressure, the performer finally released a statement on Tuesday addressing the controversy.
“So I’m seeing on social media that [an Instagram] live I did 3 years ago has popped back up,” the statement begins, according to Fox News. “A live where I talked about things I had to do in my past right or wrong that I felt I needed to do to make a living.”
“I never claim (sic) to be perfect or come from a perfect world wit (sic) a perfect past I always speak my truth I always own my s***,” said the 26-year-old.
“I made the choices that I did at the time because I had very limited options,” she rationalized. “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.”
“The men I spoke about in my life were men that I dated that I was involved with men that were conscious willing and aware,” the rapper claimed. “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,” she concluded the post.
The popular artist gave birth to her and her husband rapper Offset’s daughter some eight months ago.