Cardi B issued an apology following the release of her Footwear News November cover.
On the cover, Cardi is seen holding up a red sneaker while portraying the Hindu goddess Durga.
Cardi was immediately slammed by fans and critics, who called her out for appropriating Indian culture and for making a mockery of Hindu culture in particular.
Immediately recognizing her error, Cardi took to social media to offer up a sincere apology to those offended: “When I did the Reebok shoot, the creatives told me I was going to represent a goddess, that she represents strength, femininity and liberation, and that’s something I love and I’m all about,” she said.
“And though it was dope, if people think I’m offending their culture or their religion I want to say I’m sorry,” she continued. “That was not my intent. I do not like disrespecting nobody’s religion. I wouldn’t like people to offend my religion. I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful. Maybe I should have done my research. I’m sorry, I can’t change the past, but I will do more research for the future.”
In a statement issued to PEOPLE, Footwear News addressed the controversial cover.
“Yesterday we posted content from our exclusive Cardi B cover shoot. One of the images was intended to pay homage to Hindu goddess Durga, and our intent was to show a powerful woman. However, we realize we were not considerate of certain cultural and religious perspectives and how this could be perceived as deeply offensive,” their statement reads.
“We take full accountability for this oversight and we apologize,” the statement added. “It is important we learn from this example and are sensitive to this sort of religious imagery when creative discussions are taking place in the future. Today, we’re releasing another cover from the shoot that was a subscriber exclusive.”
