Cardi B apologizes for posing as Goddess Durga on cover of 'Footwear News'

'If people think I’m offending their culture or their religion I want to say that was not my intent,' Cardi B said.
November 11, 2020 3:12 p.m. EST
November 11, 2020 3:19 p.m. EST
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Cardi B has apologized after fans accused the "WAP" rapper of cultural appropriation for posing as the Hindu Goddess Durga while holding a sneaker on the cover of Footwear News for its November 2020 issue.After the cover was released, Cardi took to her Instagram Story to address the backlash. "Sorry guys. I didn't mean to offend or disrespect anybody's culture. I can't change the passed [sic] but I'll be more cautious for the future. Love you guys," she wrote over a selfie.Cardi posted videos explaining why she posed as Durga, the goddess that has ten arms and whose symbols represent strength and protection. She said that when she did the Reebok shoot the creatives told her she was going to represent a Goddess and they told her that the goddess represents strength, femininity and liberation. "That’s something I love and I’m all about,” she explained “And though it was dope, if people think I’m offending their culture or their religion I want to say that was not my intent. I do not like offending anyone’s religion. I wouldn’t like it if someone did it to my religion.”[video_embed id='6018799722001']RELATED: Cardi B ‘not proud’ of some past behaviour[/video_embed]"When people dress as Virgin Mary and Jesus, as long as they do it in a beautiful, graceful way I don't feel a type of way," Cardi continued. "But 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 will do more research for the future.”[caption id="attachment_5065134" align="alignleft" width="523"] Instagram/Cardi B[/caption] In a now-deleted post by Footwear News, the magazine explained the "Bodak Yellow" rapper's pose and wrote, “…she pays homage to Durga, the Hindu goddess, whose symbols of protection and inner strength resonate as much in modern times as they have through the centuries. Like Durga, Cardi B is a dominant female voice at a critical time.”The original image of Durga shows her holding multiple weapons in her hands but Cardi's image shows the rapper holding a shoe. Many fans of the Grammy-winning rapper took to social media to call her out for her cover shoot and mocking the goddess.The magazine also issued an apology.:
The cover shoot was in celebration of Cardi's first major venture into the shoe industry with the debut of her Club C Cardi sneaker collection with Reebok.“I can go to sleep with the No. 1 record, but I’m going to sleep and thinking, ‘I need my other album to go No. 1.’ My sneaker sold out so fast; I need my next sneaker to sell out. I always wonder if I’m going to be satisfied,” Cardi told the publication.
 
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With an insatiable hunger to win, @iamcardib is ready to make her debut into the shoe industry with the Nov. 13 launch of her Club C sneaker collection with @reebok. “I’m very hard on myself,” she said. “I’m hard on my entire team. We don’t focus on nobody else, we are just focusing on our last — the last music video, the last collaboration, we always compare it to our last best. We want to do better and better.” Read the entire cover story at the link in bio. — Photography: @jorafrantzis; Style Director: @shannonadducci ; Styling: @kollincarter; Style assistant: @jennijenu; Tailor: @sirbabajagne; Makeup: @erika_lapearl_mua; Hair: @tokyostylez; Nails: @marienailz; Set Design: Brielle Hubert, Pete Hickok and Yalina Flores⁠

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Cardi was quick with the apology but this should be a lesson to her (and any other celebs) to do your research before you trust a creative vision that could be offensive to another's culture.[video_embed id='2071791']BEFORE YOU GO: Is this woman wrong for criticizing her friend’s baby name choice?[/video_embed]

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