Cardi B Denies Throwing Shade at Nicki Minaj With Maternity Shoot

Cardi B’s latest maternity photos might not be traditional, but she wants to make it clear that they’re not about Nicki Minaj.

After fans began questioning the graffiti in the background of the snaps, Cardi, 31, slammed the idea that she was throwing shade at Minaj, 41.

“First of all we literally picked a random street because paparazzi was hounding us everywhere,” the “Bodak Yellow” artist wrote via X on Monday, September 2. “This was supposed to be my original first picture and we had to edit the photos in minutes because the shoot got leaked. Didn’t even have time to go over every detail because people were busy trying to expose my pregnancy as ‘aha’ moment…Second I’m ALWAYS with the s–ts but I’m not using MY MATERNITY shoot to be funny. Are you dumb??”

Cardi shared the photos in question via Instagram on Sunday, September 1. In the snaps, she perched atop a motorcycle while wearing an all-leather look consisting of a gray bra top, thigh-high boots and a long coat.

“I wanna meet my little boo boo soo bad already 🥺,” she captioned the post. (Cardi announced last month that she is expecting her third baby amid her divorce from Offset. The estranged couple also share daughter Kulture, 6, and son Wave, 2.)

The graffiti in the background, however, is what sent some fans into a tailspin. Behind the motorcycle, the brick wall reads, “Homesick pedophile.”

Social media users began speculating that the graffiti was a veiled reference to Minaj, whose brother Jelani Maraj was convicted of predatory sexual assault on a child younger than 13 years old and endangering the welfare of a child in 2017. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in 2020.

Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, was sentenced to probation and house arrest in 2022 after failing to register as a sex offender following his 1995 conviction for the attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl. Minaj and Petty, 46, welcomed a son in 2020 but have not publicly shared his name.

When one X user claimed that someone on Cardi’s “team” should have noticed the graffiti, the Grammy winner reiterated that it was simply an oversight.

“A team?? [Bitch] my makeup artist touched up the picture because we didn’t have time for all that, it says the date and time nobody was paying attention to the graffiti,” she wrote via X on Monday. “Second if I wanted to be petty I would’ve posted a lot of memes last week.. I KEEP TELLIN YALL TO LEAVE ME THE F–K ALONE !! If I’m saying I’m not on that time DONT MAKE ME GET ON THAT TIME.”

Petty and Maraj’s criminal backgrounds made headlines earlier this year when Megan Thee Stallion referenced Megan’s Law in the song “Hiss,” which was interpreted by fans to be aimed at Minaj.

“These hoes don’t be mad at Megan, these hoes mad at Megan’s Law / I don’t really know what the problem is, but I guarantee y’all don’t want me to start,” Megan, 29, rapped on the track, which debuted in January.

Megan’s Law is the name for the legislation requiring law enforcement authorities to make information regarding registered sex offenders available to the public. It is named after Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old girl who was murdered by an unregistered sex offender in 1994.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).