Madonna celebrated the 30th anniversary of her then-controversial “Sex” book with an Instagram story on Saturday in which she praised herself for paving the way for women like Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus and Cardi B — who was less than pleased by her “tone.”
“30 years ago I published a book called S.E.X.,” wrote Madonna.
“There were photos of Men kissing Men, Woman kissing Woman and Me kissing everyone,” she continued. “Now Cardi B can sing about her WAP. Kim Kardashian can grace the cover of any magazine with her naked ass and Miley Cyrus can come in like a wrecking ball.”
The “Material Girl” concluded her story with, “You’re welcome bitches” and a clown face emoji.
Cardi B, who met Madonna at an Oscars after-party in 2018 and gushed about meeting her “real life IDOL” on Instagram at the time, took Madonna’s post as an egregious insult.
“I literally payed this woman homage so many times cause I grew up listening to her … she can make her point without putting clown emojis and getting slick out the mouth,” Cardi B tweeted Sunday in a since-deleted tweet, per Billboard. “These icons really become disappointments once u make it in the industry that’s why I keep to myself.”
Madonna, whose book of adult photos was published alongside her 1992 album “Erotica,” added in her Instagram story that she was “interviewed by narrow minded people” for years after, was shamed for being sexually open and was “called a whore, a witch, a heretic and the devil.”
Madonna spent decades advocating for women’s sexual liberation. She told The Advocate in 1991 that she thinks “everybody has a bisexual nature,” famously kissed Britney Spears at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards and recently gushed about sex being her guiltiest pleasure.
Cardi B said in 2018 that she rapped at an event of Madonna’s and called it “the most meaningful performance ever.” She added that she grew up listening to Madonna, performed “Material Girl” in high school and played her music at photo shoots “to have super confidence.”
Some Twitter users responded to Cardi B’s string of since-deleted tweets and said Madonna was merely stating she “paved the way for sexual songs to become mainstream.” Their attempts to convince Cardi B that Madonna wasn’t trying to insult her, however, didn’t stick.
“I know exactly what she said and I understand,” Cardi B replied, “but it’s about THE TONE … Calling me bitches and putting clown emojis? The fuck!”