Cardi B Responds To Mona Love Over Colorism Comments

During a recent episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, Mona Love discussed a resurfaced clip from Cardi's 2024 Instagram Live, arguing that colorism played a role in her career. "Cardi is very talented, but part of the reasons why she's there is because she's light," Love said. "Colorism does take part in a lighter person making it further. It's a fact." Cardi responded in a lengthy post on X, claiming the 13-second clip failed to capture the full context of her original 15-minute discussion. "I know that colorism is real I never denied that I seen it for myself," Cardi wrote, recalling how men treated lighter and darker-skinned women differently when she worked as a stripper. However, the Grammy-winning rapper pushed back against the idea that her complexion drove her success. "What Im always going to stand up for is that my skin tone is not solely the reason for my success," she wrote. Cardi explained that people heavily criticized her appearance early in her career, mocking her teeth, acne, and hairstyles while dismissing her potential as an entertainer. "My skin tone wasnt enough to convince anyone I was a star. Everybody said no!!" she wrote. "I had to work my ass off to get where I am." Although Cardi acknowledged that lighter-skinned women may have an easier time accessing certain opportunities, she argued that maintaining success requires more than appearance. "What keeps you in the room is the work… the strategy… the consistency AND the talent," she wrote. Cardi also took aim at Love personally, revealing that the comedian had contacted her privately over the years for advice about surgery, personal matters, and securing brand deals. "If my success is because of my light skin why you asking me how to pitch yourself and how to get brand deals??" Cardi questioned. She accused Love of deliberately resurfacing the controversy to shift attention away from backlash surrounding her comments about Tia Kemp. "You decided to use me and a sensitive topic as a scapegoat," Cardi alleged. Despite their disagreement, Cardi reiterated that acknowledging colorism shouldn't mean dismissing her accomplishments. "I will never not acknowledge the prejudice in our system… we can acknowledge that reality without diminishing my accomplishments or my experience," she concluded.

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