“I kind of forgot how to pronounce the designer’s name because his name is a little bit complicated… my mind was just racing,” she recalled.

Cardi B is defending herself after forgetting the name of Sensen Lii, the Chinese fashion designer who created the rapper’s jaw-dropping, black tulle look at the 2024 Met Gala on Monday night (May 6).

On the red carpet, when asked by Emma Chamberlain for Vogue who the creator of the look was, Cardi hesitated and forgot his name in the moment, noting instead: “They’re Asian and everything.”

Cardi then received online backlash for her comments, slammed by critics for being racially insensitive. Vogue‘s former managing director Gilbert Cheah also called out the “Bodak Yellow” rapper in a comment section on Instagram, writing, “For the record and recognition, and no thanks to Cardi B, the designer of her gown is Sensen Lii who’s Chinese. The gown took two months to make. I personally think it’s boring and not even on theme but she chose it and should have at least remembered his name and not just that he’s ‘Asian’ [eye roll emoji].”

In response, Cardi took to Instagram to defend herself, explaining that she “had a lot of things on” her mind and was “very scared” since she was being rushed to the front of the line at the Met Gala. “I kind of forgot how to pronounce the designer’s name because his name is a little bit complicated… my mind was just racing,” she recalled.

Cardi said she wasn’t trying to “be offensive,” adding, “I feel like the designer and my stylist worked really hard for this theme, so for you to be kind of shady because she feel offended or whatever, it just proves why you’re the former director. You’re trying to offend me but you’re actually offending the people behind-the-scenes.”