Cardi B has apologised to the Government of Jamaica after it denied committing any money towards her proposed BZR WKND performance, while accusing event organiser Ryan Burke of misleading her team about Government involvement in the festival.
The international rapper returned to Instagram Live on Wednesday, saying she had received messages and an email from Burke indicating that the Government had invested in the event.
“I want to apologise to the Government of Jamaica because I feel like motherf*****s was putting your name in the finesse,” she said.
Cardi, who was scheduled to perform at BZR WKND Jamaica on October 18, insisted that she had not communicated directly with Government representatives and could not confirm whether the claims made to her were true.
She, however, alleged that Burke had sent an email to her team stating that the Government had invested in the festival.
“I got an email from you telling my people … that the Government invested in the festival,” she said, directly addressing Burke.
Her comments came a day after the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport issued a statement declaring that the Government had made “no commitment or payment towards appearance fees or any fees whatsoever” in relation to the proposed concert. The ministry also described the event as “a private commercial engagement in which the Government was not involved”.
Cardi said she was prepared to publish the email and text messages she claimed supported her allegations, challenging Burke to dispute her account. She also repeated her claim that the promoter failed to provide production funding on time, saying the remaining money was sent only after she publicly announced the cancellation of her performance. According to the rapper, the payment came too late for her team to arrange the necessary production and travel to Jamaica, and she returned the money.
She further accused Burke of using the death of her grandfather as an excuse for the cancellation, insisting that the decision was related to what she described as poor business dealings. “My next vacation, it will be in Jamaica,” she told viewers, adding that she did not want any conflict with the Jamaican Government.
The dispute erupted after Cardi withdrew from the festival, with the rapper and Burke offering conflicting accounts of the circumstances surrounding the cancellation.
Cardi maintained during Wednesday’s broadcast that she had documentation to support her position and said the matter would ultimately be settled in court.
