Cardi B Reacts to Critics After Referring to Met Gala Designer by Race

Originally appeared on E! Online

Cardi B is setting the record straight.

After the "WAP" rapper received criticism for referring to the designer of her 2024 Met Gala dress as an "Asian designer" on the carpet—rather than Sensen Lii, of Windowsen—Cardi is explaining how she forgot his name in the heat of the moment.

"First, when I was on the red carpet, I was very scared," she said in a since-expired social media video shared by TMZ. "Because he dress was supposed to be on a little podium, and I've been practicing how to pose on the podium. But at the carpet, I wasn't allowed to use the podium. So I had a lot of things in my mind, and I was being rushed to the front of the line."

She continued, "So when I was being interviewed, I kind of forgot to pronounce the designer's name because his name is a little but complicated. Like my mind was just racing. I said 'Asian designer because I knew that the designer was Asian, but I wasn't sure what nationality the designer was. I didn't want to get somebody's nationality mixed up."

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Attention was brought to Cardi's comments on the carpet after Vogue's former managing director Gilbert Cheah called her out for the moment on social media.

"For the record and recognition, and no thanks to Cardi B, the designer of her gown is Sensen Lii who's Chinese," Gilbert commented on a reel of Cardi at the Met. And though he expressed he personally felt the gown to be "boring and not even on theme," he noted, "but she chose it and should have at least remembered his name and not just that he's 'Asian.'"

E! News has reached out to Gilbert for comment but has not yet heard back.

For her part, Cardi also responded to Gilbert's negative comments towards the look.

"I do feel like, as a person that works in fashion, I feel like the designer and my stylist, we worked really hard for this theme. So for you to be kind of shady. Because you try to offend me, but you actually offending the people that work behind the scenes, you're actually offending the people that spent hours and hours on phone calls, on Zooms and money on this design."

The Grammy winner also made sure to give Sensen a special shoutout.

"I have to give another thank you to @windowsen," she wrote on her May 8 Instagram Story over a video of herself in the voluminous gown. "I chose you because of your amazing talent and you came through really making this Met Gala a night to remember @sensenlii."

The designer then reshared the Story to his own profile, writing thank you alongside a red heart.

To see more of Cardi's Met Gala look—and the many others to grace the Metropolitan Museum of Art's front steps—keep reading.

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