Cardi B is setting the record straight on why she once turned down music’s biggest stage.
In her new Billboard cover story, the Outside rapper revealed she was asked to perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show but declined the opportunity.
“I got asked to do the Super Bowl and I denied it. I feel like soon, if I get to do it, I’m going to have more hits. I’m going to be more experienced and I’m going to eat that up,” the 32-year-old said.
This isn’t the first time Cardi has spoken about stepping away from the NFL spotlight.
Back in 2019, she explained to the Associated Press that she chose not to perform in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, who protested police brutality and systemic racism by kneeling during the national anthem.
At the time, she said she supported him because he “stood up for minorities.”
Cardi’s career has only soared since her 2018 debut album Invasion of Privacy, which topped both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, with all its tracks eventually earning platinum certification from the RIAA.
The record also made history when it won Best Rap Album at the 2019 Grammys, making Cardi just the third woman ever to claim the award.
While she gears up for her long-awaited sophomore album Am I the Drama?, Cardi also made headlines this week for a major legal win. The rapper was cleared by a California jury of accusations that she assaulted a security guard during an altercation in 2018.
Emani Ellis, who filed a $24 million lawsuit, claimed the star cut her face with a fingernail and spit on her during an argument at a Beverly Hills doctor’s office.
Cardi told jurors the dispute never turned physical, explaining she was four months pregnant at the time and became protective when she believed Ellis was recording her.
“I told her, ‘Why are you recording?’ and she said, ‘Oh my bad.’ She practically apologized,” Cardi recalled, with a receptionist backing her account.
Jurors needed less than an hour to reach their decision, dismissing Ellis’s claims and granting Cardi a clean victory after years of court battles.
The outcome left the rapper smiling, relieved, and ready to turn her attention back to music.