Cardi B Called Out Racist Reactions to Her Birkin Bag Collection

From Harper's BAZAAR

• Cardi B called out a racist social media post claiming that Hermès Birkin bags had "lost their value" because Cardi and City Girls own them, meaning they're no longer "exclusive."

• "Why is it that y’all asking female rappers if they could get a bag from the Hermès store? Y’all don't do this to these white celebrities," Cardi said in an Instagram video.

• "Another thing is that they're saying that we depreciate the value," Cardi added. "Like hip-hop, we start trends. When y'all say that we devalue shit, no, we actually add value."

Cardi B called out a racist social media post which claimed that Hermès Birkin bags had "lost their value" and were no longer "exclusive" because Cardi and City Girls owned them. In an Instagram video, Cardi condemned the racist belief that Black female rappers "devalued" luxury brands, noting that hip-hop drives fashion trends and her own songs have been responsible for significant boosts in sales.

"I've been seeing this tweet, right. It had me and it had other female rappers on it. They were talking about if we could get Birkins from the Hermés store and they was also saying how we depreciate the value of a Hermés Birkin bag," Cardi said. (According to People, this is the post in question.) "And I find that really interesting right, because, first thing first, right, I definitely could get a bag. Actually, I got four bags today from the Hermés store."

"Why is it that y’all asking female rappers if they could get a bag from the Hermés store? Y’all don't do this to these white celebrities," she continued. "So why is it that y'all gotta be asking us? What the fuck? It just makes you want to brag like, 'Bitch, do you know who the fuck you're talking to?' But no, I'm not even going to take it there."

"Another thing is that they're saying that we depreciate the value," Cardi said. "Like hip-hop, we start trends. When y'all say that we devalue shit, no, we actually add value." She pointed out that her tracks "Bodak Yellow," which mentions Louboutins, and "I Like It," which references Balenciaga, both prompted massive sales spikes for the brands, resulting in her becoming the face of Balenciaga's autumn/winter 2020 campaign.

"And another thing is, why when a Black girl, why when a Hispanic girl have a bag, y’all you have to question it?" Cardi said in the Instagram clip. "There's a lot of boss ass bitches out here. There’s a lot of boss ass bitches that own their company, there’s realtors, there’s PRs, there’s A&Rs, there’s doctors, there’s dentists and the list go fucking on."

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