Cardi B didn’t hold back while addressing some serious production issues during her recent BET Fan Fest performance. Footage from the event started circulating on social media, showing Cardi pausing her set to directly call out the crew.
“No offense, yo, but production,” she began, visibly frustrated. “Y’all messin’ up my pyros, the fans is off. Y’all messing up my music. What the fuck I’m paying y’all pussy niggas for? What the fuck I’m paying y’all niggas for? Turn my fuckin’ fan on bitch, let’s go.”
The clip, shared by Real 92.3 on Instagram, quickly went viral. Some fans weren’t too happy with how she handled things. One particular comment on X (formerly Twitter) criticizing her outburst got her attention. The since-deleted comment read: “I understand that people have families to feed, but I wished we lived in a better world because no one should ever be disrespected like this in a workplace environment/ at all. This principle isn’t exclusive to less glamorous positions. Celebrities included.” Cardi snapped back with an angry response.
“Girl shut up.. when you do a show you don’t pay after you pay before. I paid 350,000 up front the least they could do is get my pyro ready and turn the fans on because guess what??? At the end of the day that money is not returnable… don’t half a*s my show because you comfortable when I definitely don’t half a*s when it comes to paying.. don’t tell me how to talk to anybody when you the same h* talkin bout my kids and other deceased parents,” she tweeted.
The next day, Cardi explained what went wrong. “Let me tell you about yesterday!! I spent 100k on pyro that we couldn’t use because the production team failed to have the fire marshall go over safety with my team which is sooo simple to do,” she wrote on social media. “Spent days in rehearsal learning choreography just so for them to have the wrong mix and we had to swap it out.”
She continued, “booked four fans so they could be turned on during Bartier Cardi and that never happened.. you wanna know why? Because they didn’t bother to show up to rehearsal while hundred thousands of dollars was put into this show. Don’t play with my money in this economy honey.”
This isn’t the first time Cardi’s made headlines recently. Just a few days prior, she took the stage at the 2024 Hollywood Unlocked Awards to accept the Inspiration Award. She didn’t mince words during her acceptance speech, either.
“I just want to say thank Jason [Lee] so much for this award,” she began. “I’m really my biggest critic and I always say this: ‘Nobody has it harder than in the industry and in every genre than a female rapper.’ And I’m going to tell you why.”
She elaborated on the challenges female rappers face, saying, “You have to have the best verse. Not only that, you have to kill the charts. On top of that, your personal life has to be perfect, or then the opp bitches are going to use that against you.” She also addressed critics who bring up her tumultuous marriage with Offset.
“‘Your husband. Your husband.’ Shut up,” she remarked. “I make more money than all the n-ggas you’re fucking. So sometimes it is hard to be yourself. It is hard to want to push yourself into the music because sometimes I don’t like showing weakness in my music because, ‘You can’t see the pussy in me, bitch.’”
Cardi B’s recent BET Fan Fest performance might have been marred by production issues, but she left no stone unturned in making her dissatisfaction known. Her subsequent social media responses and public statements underline her commitment to delivering quality performances and addressing the challenges she faces as a prominent female rapper.
