Cardi B defends her use of the R-word after she was 'chewed up' on Twitter: 'They want you to be Mother Teresa'

Callie Ahlgrim

Dec 4, 2020, 22:59 IST

Cardi B defends her use of the R-word after she was 'chewed up' on Twitter: 'They want you to be Mother Teresa'

Cardi B attends the 2020 Pre-Grammy Gala in January.Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

Cardi B was recently named Billboard's Woman of the Year for 2020.
In her new cover story, the "WAP" rapper doubled down on her use of the R-word.
"Just the other day, I was getting chewed up because I said the R-word," she said. "Like, how you gonna cancel me for calling myself r-----ed?"
"They want you to be Mother Teresa, they want you to put out music, and they want you to look a certain way," she continued. "It's like, "Y'all gotta chill — I'm just a regular-degular b----, man."
Cardi B received backlash in October for posting a voice memo on Twitter in which she called herself "stupid and r-----ed."

Cardi B doubled down on her use of the R-word despite acknowledging fans' anger and discomfort.

The "WAP" rapper was recently named Billboard's Woman of the Year. In her cover story, published on Wednesday, the magazine's hip-hop editor, Carl Lamarre, asked whether she felt that "expectations are still higher for female artists."

"I don't want to be like, 'Oh, female artists, we have it hard.' But we do f---ing be having it mad hard!" she replied.

"N----s be out here doing the most, being disrespectful," she added. "Just the other day, I was getting chewed up because I said the R-word. Like, how you gonna cancel me for calling myself r-----ed?"

A post shared by Cardi B (@iamcardib)

She continued: "They want you to be Mother Teresa, they want you to put out music, and they want you to look a certain way. It's like, 'Y'all gotta chill - I'm just a regular-degular b----, man.'"

The 28-year-old chart-topper was referring to an incident in October when she accidentally posted a nude photo on Instagram and addressed the mistake in a voice memo posted on Twitter.

"Lord, Lord, why the f--- you have to make me so stupid and r-----ed? Why? Why, why, why?" she said. "You know what, I'm never going to beat myself up about it."

—iamcardib (@iamcardib) October 13, 2020

The R-word, sometimes called the R-slur, is widely considered to be offensive to people with disabilities.

More than a decade ago, the Special Olympics launched the "Spread the Word to End the Word" campaign to highlight the negative impact of ableist language.

"While 'mental retardation' was originally introduced as a medical term in 1961 for people with intellectual disabilities, in the decades since, the R-word has become an insult used all too commonly in everyday language," an article on the Special Olympics website says.

"Those who use the R-word often do so with little regard for the pain it causes people with intellectual disabilities - and the exclusion it perpetuates in our society."

Cardi B's voice note was met with backlash from fans who protested her use of the word.