Bisexual rapper Cardi B has again stirred up controversy – this time with her Baby Reindeer comments. (Karwai Tang/WireImage and Netflix)
Cardi B has again courted controversy online after she shared her thoughts on the new Netflix show Baby Reindeer.
Warning: the following story contains descriptions of violence and sexual assault.
Richard Gadd’s seven-part Netflix show, which has been critically praised, sees Donny (Gadd) dealing with a serial stalker. The show also includes graphic depictions of sexual assault and rape.
The show is based on a true story, and recently fans have attempted to identify Gadd’s real-life stalker, known as “Martha” in the show, as well as the real-life versions of other characters, using social media profiles and clips of Gadd’s comedy routines. Gadd ended up posting a message urging them to stop.
On Instagram Live, 31-year-old LGBTQ+ American rapper Cardi B decided to weigh in on the Baby Reindeer hype, choosing to share a debunked belief that she thinks that some men only realise they are gay after experiencing male sexual assault.
Cardi B’s comments about Baby Reindeer are similar to widely-debunked ‘cultural myths’ – namely, that boys abused by males must have attracted the abuse because they are gay, or they become gay as a result.
“I watched this show, the Baby Reindeer and I haven’t been able to finish watching it because I think around the fourth or fifth episode it traumatised me a little bit,” Cardi B began.
She went on to explain the plot of the episodes she’d seen: “The guy wants to be a comedian, he meets this guy, he told him he was going to put him on. The guy introduced him to drugs and while he was drugged up, the guy was raping him. They started f***ing him and sucking his d**k and all this weird s**t and because of that, the guy started finding out that he was getting into that.
“Women go through a lot of sexual assault but we don’t hear or see what men experience when they experience sexual assault. It shocked me.
“I have a cousin I just knew since he was like 2 years old, like ‘yo he’s gay.’ And he is gay, I love him. Then there [are] men who get sexually assaulted and then they find out that they are gay and some people are always going to be judgemental.
“If you see that episode, the guy was straight, he got raped, then he started going through these emotions.
“He wanted to identify what he likes, all because he got sexually assaulted,” Cardi B concluded.
From her comments, it seems Cardi B is suggesting that male-on-male sexual assault can change – or at the very least make someone realise – their sexuality. However, Cardi B does clarify she doesn’t believe that this is the case for every event.
As Blue Sky Centre, an organisation supporting rape and sexual assault victims, states: “Being raped or sexually assaulted will not change your sexuality so that you now become gay or become straight.”
“Men can be victims of sexual attack regardless of their sexual orientation.”
Furthermore, according to Male Survivors Partnership, Cardi B’s comments fall into the realm of cultural myth, namely: “The myth that boys abused by males must have attracted the abuse because they are gay or they become gay as a result.”
Furthermore, the organisation’s page notes: “The harm caused by sexual abuse or assault mostly depends on things not determined by gender, including: the abuser’s identity, the duration of the abuse, whether the child told anyone at the time, and if so, whether the child was believed and helped.”
Cardi B’s past controversies
This is not the first time Cardi B has found herself mired in controversy for her comments.
Since 2017 the singer, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar, has been married to American rapper Offset with whom she has two children. In 2018 Cardi B came out as bisexual, sharing that she has had relationships with “a lot” of women. However, as with her Baby Reindeer comments, some of her controversies have stemmed from comments made about the LGBTQ+ community.
Allegations that Cardi B had shared an anti-trans meme on Facebook were denied by the rapper. She tweeted: “For the past year and a half a FORMER team member has been the only one with access to the account.”
Transphobic allegations occurred again in 2019 but she hit back at the transphobic claims and stated she supports all LGBTQ+ people because her sister is gay. She also noted that there are two trans people in her “glam team” and added that she’s a “whole bisexual”.
In 2022, Cardi slammed a biphobic tweet stating that she was a celebrity who “came out as bisexual but never dated someone of the same gender.”
In a now iconic statement, the rapper tweeted: “I ate bitches out before you was born …..Sorry I don’t have razr phone pics to prove it to you.” She added that she had a girlfriend when she was a freshman in high school.
In the same year, she called out homophobes in her classic outspoken fashion.
She wrote: “Every bad b***h have a gay best friend or gay best friend cousin ……If you homophobic you just ugly(sic).”
Baby Reindeer is now streaming on Netflix.