Cardi B denies taking a dig at Nicki Minaj with latest maternity shoot photos: ‘Leave me alone’

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Cardi B is addressing rumors suggesting she threw shade at Nicki Minaj with her recent maternity photo shoot.

The 'WAP' artist, who is expecting her third child with Offset, posted photos on social media on Sunday, September 1, showcasing her bare baby bump while perched on a motorcycle in front of a closed storefront adorned with graffiti.

Cardi B clarifies maternity photo shoot after speculation of Nicki Minaj diss

Cardi B captioned the images on Instagram, “I wanna meet my little boo boo soo bad already.”

Shortly after Cardi’s post, observant fans spotted something scrawled over the word “homesick” on the security gate behind her. This led some online viewers to speculate that the graffiti was a jab at Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, a registered offender with a first-degree attempted assault conviction from 1995, as per DailyMail.

Cardi quickly addressed these rumors on her official X account. She clarified, “First of all we literally picked a random street because paparazzi was hounding us everywhere.. this was supposed to be my original first picture and we had to edit the photos in minutes because the shoot got leaked,” she stated on Monday, September 2.

She further emphasized, “Didn’t even have time to go over every detail because people were busy trying to expose my pregnancy as ‘aha’ moment…Second I’m ALWAYS with the s**ts but I’m not using MY MATERNITY shoot to be funny. Are you dumb??”

Cardi B defends herself over speculation about maternity shoot photos

In a separate X post, Cardi B wrote, “B***h my makeup artist touched up the picture because we didn’t have time for all that, it says the date and time nobody was paying attention to the graffiti… second if I wanted to be petty I would’ve posted a lot of memes last week.. I KEEP TELLIN YALL TO LEAVE ME THE F**K ALONE !! If I’m saying I’m not on that time DONT MAKE ME GET ON THAT TIME. Unrist yourself!!”

Cardi B and Nicki Minaj have had a contentious history dating back to 2017, culminating in a physical altercation at Harper’s Bazaar’s ICONS New York fashion week party the following year.

Social media footage from the event captured Cardi yelling obscenities, throwing her shoe at Minaj, and leaving the event barefoot with a knot on her forehead.

In early August, Cardi announced her third pregnancy with Offset, the same day she filed for divorce from him for the second time. The couple shares two other children: daughter Kulture, 6, and son Wave, who is nearly 3 years old.