“I didn’t mean to offend”

By: Deirdre Durkan-Symonds For Dailymail.com

23:27 08 May 2024, updated 23:33 08 May 2024

Cardi B is making excuses for not knowing the name of the man who designed her stunning black dress for the 2024 Met Gala.

When asked by Emma Chamberlain who the inspiration for her stunning look was, the 31-year-old Grammy winner hesitated before saying, “They’re Asian and everything.”

Following the now-viral gaffe that caused major backlash on social media, the singer took to social media to explain what happened.

The rapper, who was criticized by former Vogue managing director Gilbert Chi for letting designer Sensen Lia’s name slip from her mind, clarified that she had actually forgotten how to pronounce Lia’s name.

Lii is the founder and designer of the Windowsen label.

In a new video uploaded to Instagram, the mother-of-two said she had “a lot of things” on her mind and was “very scared” as she was rushed to the front of the line on her way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the annual meeting.

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

The Bodak Yellow hitmaker explained that instead of mangling the pronunciation of Leah’s name, she said “Asian designer”.

She also said she said “Asian” rather than “Chinese” because she was unsure of her nationality and “didn’t want to be offensive.”

Addressing Chea, Cardi reiterated that she’s not trying to “be offensive.”

“I feel like the designer and my stylist worked really hard on this theme, so if you’re acting a little shady because she got offended or something, it just goes to show why you’re a former director,” she dismissed. “You’re trying to insult me, but what you’re really doing is insulting people behind the scenes.”

Chea commented on one of Cardi’s posts and said he was disappointed that she didn’t know the designer of her Met Gala dress.

“For the record and recognition, and not thanks to Cardii B, the designer of her dress is Chinese Sensen Lii. It took two months to make the dress. I personally think it’s boring and not even on topic, but she chose it and should have at least remembered his name and not just that he’s ‘Asian,'” he wrote.

After footage of the performer forgetting how to say Leah’s name spread like wildfire, X users slammed Cardi for “not knowing the designer’s name.”

“Cardi B not remembering the name of the person who designed her gala dress and just calling him some ‘Asian’ is just disrespectful,” one tweeted.

Another wrote: “Wait I’m SCREAMING because Cardi B has no idea the name of the designer who made her that huge #MetGala dress.”

“She’s not seriously trying to justify herself by not knowing who spent months making the dress she was wearing,” asked a third.

A fourth said: “Cardi B is really confused not knowing her designer’s name. “You go to fittings for 2 months, even change the color of the entire dress and don’t know who is responsible for this??”

Cardi’s Met Gala look made a big statement as she walked up the Met’s famous steps.

Her floor-length dress was paired with a monumental tulle skirt that turned heads, requiring as many as nine men to arrange the fabric around her before posing for photographs.

The unfolded skirt was so large that it seemed as if not a single star could pass by it until it rose to the top.

Cardi appeared to wait until the end of the celebrity procession, allowing her to take up plenty of space without inconveniencing many others.

After she asked the men to help her fan out her skirt, they separated so she could take some photos and then returned to help hold up the dress as she walked up the stairs, although they had to stop and hide again while she posed for more pictures.