Cardi B Claps Back at Leaked Footage of Kanye West Calling Her ‘A Plant’ That ‘Replaced Nicki Minaj’

Cardi B refused to let Kanye West get under her skin.

On Sunday, October 1, footage reportedly from a shelved 2018 documentary appeared to show West, 46, allege that Cardi B, 30, was a product of a music industry conspiracy. “Cardi B is a plant by the Illuminati,” West appeared to say in the clip after seemingly implying that Kris Jenner‘s longtime boyfriend, Corey Gamble, is a CIA operative. West said the “Bodak Yellow” rapper “doesn’t write her raps. She just there to sound as ignorant as possible and then make songs like, ‘f—k them and get some money.’”

“[Cardi] has literally replaced Nicki Minaj, purposely that they put her there,” West appeared to say in the clip, “And now she doesn’t know what to do, and she has no idea what the f–k is going on. She thinks it’s just a blessing from the universe. It ain’t no blessing from the universe.”

Cardi B seemingly took this old rant in stride. Instead of firing off a heated reaction, Cardi tweeted and deleted a clip when West sat down with Jason Lee of “Hollywood Unlocked.” In the 2022 clip, West — who recorded a featured verse on her song “Hot Sh—t,” which she released that year — praised Cardi and said he was a supporter from the very beginning.

“I always believed in her since she was on the show,” he said, referring to Cardi’s time on Love & Hip-Hop: New York. Cardi also included a red heart emoji with the clip on October 1. She has since taken down the reaction.

Cardi B. Chance Yeh/Getty Images for Atlantic Records

The alleged documentary was filmed in 2018, the same year Cardi released her smash debut album, Invasion of Privacy. Minaj, 40, also released Queen, her fourth studio album. Since then, Cardi has released a handful of singles, the most recent being “Bongos,” her new collab with Megan Thee Stallion. Cardi has made it clear that the highly anticipated follow-up to Invasion of Privacy won’t come until 2024. However, Minaj will release her fifth studio album, Pink Friday 2, on November 17.

West’s comments about Cardi aren’t the only part of his past that has resurfaced recently. His month-long tryst with Julia Fox returned to the spotlight ahead of the release of her memoir, Down The Drain, out October 10. Fox, 33, wrote there was barely any sex between her and West during their time together. She also said the relationship would only take up “like six pages” in the book.”

“I feel like I went very lightly on it. I’m not trying to have bad blood or anything,” she said. “It’s all in the past.”