Cardi B is standing up for Tyla after the rising star faced backlash for a moment at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. While accepting the VMA award for Best Afrobeats Video, Tyla handed her trophy to Lil Nas X, joking about how heavy it was while delivering her speech. Some fans on social media criticized the move, calling it “rude,” but Cardi quickly came to her defense.
During a discussion on X (formerly Twitter) Spaces, Cardi expressed her frustration with the negativity Tyla has been receiving. “Tyla wishes she never won that fcking VMA award,” Cardi said. “If she would’ve known that that fcking VMA award would’ve brought so much hate, so much criticism, I bet for a fact she’ll be crying tonight. The internet is insufferable.” She went on to call the reactions online a form of “bullying,” criticizing how people take a single moment and distort it into something negative.
Cardi also explained why Tyla needed help with the VMA trophy, pointing out that the award is heavier than it looks. “You gotta worry about motherfkin’ doing a speech, looking good while you’re carrying a motherfkin’ 10-pound fkin’ [award] in your motherfkin’ hand,” she said. Cardi added that Tyla is small and skinny, weighing about 109 pounds, which makes holding the trophy in heels even harder. She made it clear that Tyla wasn’t being rude or dismissive, noting that she handed the VMA trophy to Lil Nas X, not Halle Bailey, as some have speculated.
Tyla herself took to X to address the controversy, writing, “Y’all make everything weird… I was not asking my girl Halle… We just girls, STFU I WON A VMAAAA.” Tyla’s win came from the success of her track “Water,” which has been a major hit.