Mona Love is not feeding the internet’s appetite for drama with Cardi B. The podcaster has chosen to issue an apology instead, admitting she should have done more research before giving her opinion on a topic that ultimately sparked controversy.
The apology came on The Joe Budden Podcast, where Mona’s co-hosts basically gave her a temperature check on the whole mess. “I apologize,” she said, explaining that she slid into Cardi’s DMs when the rapper first spoke up because she never expected the situation to blow up or upset anybody. “Like her saying that I’m the cause of her being dragged right now, like that sh-t makes me feel horrible,” Mona said. “I wouldn’t want nobody to experience that s—t.”
The backlash started when Mona referenced a 13-second clip from a 2024 Instagram Live where she felt Cardi was incorrect about colorism’s role in her success. Mona argued that Cardi’s skin tone had a lot to do with how far she’s gotten. However, the problem, as Mona now admits, is that the clip was a tiny slice of a much longer conversation. “If I knew that that clip was edited, or even if it wasn’t edited, if I knew it was that old, it would have been a total different response from me,” she said.
Joe Budden, never one to let a teachable moment pass, called the apology “big” and used it to push a point about accountability, saying he wants her words and actions to line up. He also argued the broader conversation didn’t need Cardi as its face. “I feel like we could have had the colorism conversation sans Cardi,” he said, calling it a bigger discussion than one celebrity. He was careful to add that making her the poster child was never Mona’s intention.
Cardi wasn’t being quiet while all this unfolded. She hit X with a long statement, claiming Mona had privately sought her advice on career moves and brand deals for years and even surgery. “If we going to talk about what I said lets talk about everything that I said in the 15 minute live from 2024 that got cut down to 13 seconds,” Cardi wrote.
She made clear she never denied colorism exists, pointing to what she saw working in strip clubs and how it plays out in the workplace and the justice system. Her line in the sand was about credit. “My skin tone is not solely the reason for my success,” she said, describing years of being told no because she didn’t fit the traditional beauty standard labels wanted to invest in.
Cardi also didn’t hide that she was hurt. “Am i upset with Mona?? Yes!!” she wrote, questioning why Mona never just asked her about the clip when she’d hit her up about everything else. “You went out your way to make a video with no context,” she added.
Hearing Cardi out, Mona admitted, “I just got to step the f—k up and get on some real drill. Speaking for me, I just got to tighten up,” she said, “because this was avoidable.”
Check out the clip here:
“MONA SPEAKS ON CARDI B DRAMA: ‘IT MAKES ME FEEL HORRIBLE'” Mona: “I apologize. I DM’d Cardi when she first said anything because, like I said on the pod, like I really didn’t think that she would like be heard or upset about it and that never was my intention.” Mona: “Like her saying that I’m the cause of her being dragged right now, like that shit makes me feel horrible. Like I wouldn’t want nobody to experience that shit.” Joe Budden: “I think it was big of you to apologize.” Joe Budden: “You just want to always make sure that your words and your actions are in alignment, right?” Joe Budden: “I feel like we could have had the colorism conversation sans Cardi, right? That’s a bigger conversation to be had. So to make her the poster child of it, which I’m again, wasn’t your intention.” Mona: “If I knew that that clip was edited, that clip was either, even if it wasn’t edited, if I knew it was that old, it would have been a total different response from me.” Mona: “I just got to step the fuck up and get on some real drill. I know people probably hear this like, ‘Duh, you should research everything you talk about,’ but the truth is people don’t. So um I, speaking for me, I just got to tighten up like that, because this was avoidable.” Mona acknowledges the backlash, apologizes to Cardi B, and admits that doing more research could have prevented the controversy.— 𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐀 🧸 (@lenni1127) November 4, 2026