On Saturday, Cardi B uploaded an Instagram photo to show what her daughter Kulture may look like in the future.
The now-deleted post used a superimposed image of Cardi and her husband Offset to reveal future Kulture. "So, this how [Kulture] finna look? I love it," Cardi wrote.
When one fan pointed out that the composite photo looked a lot like Cardi's sister Hennessy, she replied, "I think cause Hennessy got ch*nky eyes like Offset and so [does Kulture]. It's the only [thing] I could think [of]."
Her "ch*nky eyes" comment was immediately called out.
Some fans questioned if Cardi even realized the offense of what she'd just written:
This fan educated the 27-year-old and explained that the term is considered to be a racial slur:
"Cardi, I love you girl, but really? Ch*nky? We all need to do better," another fan wrote.
One fan did come to Cardi's defense, writing, "she means almond-shaped. I doubt she meant to be racist."
However, as this fan pointed out, "Impact matters more than intention. Just because she didn't 'mean to say something racist' doesn't mean it can't be taken that way by marginalized people."
It didn't take long for Cardi to catch wind of the backlash, and the "Press" rapper took to Twitter to admit that she "didn't know" it was a slur.
"I don't know fuckin' everything," she tweeted in a now-deleted post. "We don't even use that as [an] insult and I don't use it as [an] insult. I'm sick of the internet."
Cardi B responds to backlash after her Instagram comment
Since then, several other fans have come forward admitting they also didn't know "ch*nky eyes" was an offensive term:
@iamcardib I say my daughter has chinky eyes all the time I thought it meant chinked as I’m pinched u know? I guess not 😳
@iamcardib Who else didn’t know chinky was an insult? 🤡🤡