What’s up?
It’s Sussan Mourad here with Clevver News and Cardi B just apologized after receiving
waves of criticism from fans that accused her of appropriating Hindu culture for a magazine
cover shoot.
Alright, so Cardi B recently appeared on the cover of Footwear News magazine following
the announcement of her new Reebok collection, which is set to drop tomorrow.
But on the magazine cover, Cardi is seen taking on the aesthetic of the Hindu goddess Durga
who according to Britannica is traditionally depicted with eight to ten arms.
This person shared a photo of Cardi’s magazine cover and the religious figure side by side
along with the caption saying QUOTE “So Cardi B is apparently paying homage to Goddess
Durga.
And what I don't understand that they are okay with this.
Cardi B Do you know who Durga Maa is and her aesthetic and importance in Hinduism?
This is so disrespectful.
“.
Cardi was said to be QUOTE “paying homage” to Durga with this cover shoot, but ever since
the image came out, she’s received a ton of backlash, with many accusing her of cultural
appropriation.
People were particularly upset that Cardi would use this significant religious symbolism,
from a religion she doesn’t practice, to sell shoes.
One fan tweeted saying quote, “I get that you look at our religion to gain power from
our Goddesses but CARDI B IS LITERALLY HOLDING A MF SHOE???
WHO APPROVES THIS S**T?
WE KEEP OUR SHOES OUT WHILE PRAYING, NO CARDI YOU'RE NOT PAYING HOMAGE YOU'RE JUST DEMEANING
MY RELIGION.”
Another person wrote, “she used a religion as a prop to sell her shoes.
she did not pay homage in any way.”
This person chimed in saying “that was pure disrespect.
like cant they research or educate themselves.
just using any religion in whatever way you like is not called giving homage. when will
people learn!”
And this person tweeted writing “this is blatantly disrespectful to our culture it
is not "paying homage.”
And there were a lot more tweets just like those.
Cardi got wind of the backlash and eventually deleted the pic off her social media pages
and actually took to her Instagram stories to issue a formal apology.
On her IG story she wrote, “Sorry guys.
I didn’t mean to offend or disrespect anyone’s culture.
I can’t change the past, but I’ll be more cautious for the future.
Love you guys.”
And Cardi also got on camera to apologize and explain herself.
“When I did the Reebok shoot the creatives were telling me you’re going to represent
a goddess and she represents strength, femininity, and liberation.
And that’s something that I love and I’m all about and I thought that it was dope.
But if people feel that I’m offending their culture or religion, I want to say I’m sorry,
that was not my intent.”
Cardi went on and said that she doesn’t want to disrespect anybody’s religion and
that she should’ve done more research and promised to be better in the future.
“I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful, maybe I should have done my research, and
I’m sorry.
I can’t change the past but I’m going to do more research for the future.”
Fans were quick to reply to Cardi’s IG stories with many of them thinking it was heartfelt
and sincere.
This fan rightfully pointed out that if you do not practice Hinduism, it’s not your
apology to accept or reject.
It is for those who practice the religion to see the apology and make their own decision.
But this is just some of what people were saying on Twitter.
This person wrote “Thank you so much Cardi B for this apology.
The whole India needs to hear this !” Another chimed in writing “Lol cardi b's
Apology is wholesome” However there were some people who were still
disappointed, like this person who commented on her apology repost to Twitter saying “It
is really tiring to see celebrities with a large and impressionable platform disrespect
cultures while simultaneously using the cultures as an aesthetic”
And this person who respected Cardi for apologising, questioned where Reebok’s apology was writing
“Cardi B admitted her mistake in not doing her research and apologised.
Where is the apology from.
@Reebok and their PR/ creative team?
At the end of the day, they pitched the shoot idea to Cardi B and sold it in.
Someone needs to be fired for not doing their job.”
Footwear News, the magazine cover Cardi appeared on, did also issue an apology statement to
People Magazine.
The outlet said quote, “We take full accountability for this oversight and we apologize.
It is important we learn from this example and are sensitive to this sort of religious
imagery when creative discussions are taking place in the future.
Today, we're releasing another cover from the shoot that was a subscriber exclusive.”
Hopefully everyone learned their lesson from this situation and will do better at doing
their research going forward!
People’s religions and cultures should be respected and not be used by others as an
aesthetic or to sell products.
If you want more on Cardi B, click right over here for another Clevver News video.
Also, let us know down in the comments below what you think about all of this and how you
feel about Cardi’s apology.
I’m your host, Sussan Mourad, you can find me on Instagram @Sussan_Mourad, bye guys!