Cardi B. received massive backlash over the weekend for a transphobic meme that recently appeared on her verified Facebook page. But the rapper isn’t taking responsibility, instead claiming the meme was posted by a former employee.
The offensive meme featured the words, “I hope nobody see this tr—y leave my house,” with multiple laughing emojis intended to poke fun at the shame associated with trans people participating in intimate relationships with cisgendered individuals.
The “Bodak Yellow” rapper denounced the offensive Facebook post in a series of tweets posted to her verified account.
“It’s come to my attention that there have been offensive posts made on what used to be my Facebook page,” she tweeted. “For the past year and a half a FORMER team member has been the only one with access to the account.”
Orange Is The New Black star and transgender rights activist Laverne Cox weighed in on the trending controversy.
“I am a huge advocate for free speech but as long as its socially acceptable to make jokes about trans people, to make and share memes disparaging & demeaning trans folks, trans folks will continue to be murdered & denied civil rights,” Cox wrote.
She completed the tweets with the hashtags #TransIsBeautiful and #transrightsarehumanrights.
Cardi B., who admits that she is still learning about socially-appropriate language and behavior, has found herself in trouble with the LGBT community before.
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Earlier this year, she was forced to defend her husband Offset, who rapped, “I cannot vibe with queers,” on YFN Lucci’s song, “Boss Life.”
Cardi said in a Twitter livestream that she had a serious lack of information around the trans community’s concerns with certain language choices.
“You know, there’s bad words that your parents teach you that you’re not supposed to say,” she said. “Nobody taught us that. Nobody taught us that in our school.”
