Rapper Cardi B and singer Rita Ora have apologized after taking heat for separate gatherings with groups of people as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
Cardi was slammed on social media after she tweeted that she spent U.S. Thanksgiving with “12 kids and 25 adults”. She boasted “It was lit!!” and also shared a video on Instagram that showed she and husband Offset dancing with a group of people – none of whom were wearing masks.
Public health officials had warned Americans to scale back their holiday plans to prevent another spike in COVID-19 cases.
The rap superstar addressed the criticism on Sunday. “Sorry my bad wasn’t trying to make nobody feel bad,” she tweeted. “I just had my family in my home for the first time and it felt so good & uplifted me .I spent soo much money getting every1 tested but it felt worth it.I wasnt trying to offend no1.”
Cardi said she and people on her team get tested for COVID-19 “literally 4 times a week.”
Later, Cardi appeared to downplay the outrage. “People be trying tooo hard to be offended,” she tweeted. “I wonder how they survive the real world.”
Across the pond, Ora shared a mea culpa on Monday after it was reported that she celebrated her birthday on Saturday with a private dinner for about 30 guests at a London restaurant. British tabloid The Sun published photos showing police officers investigating the gathering and cited a source as saying Ora paid the $17,300 fine.
England is under a lockdown that prohibits indoor dining at restaurants and gathering with people from other households.
“It was a spur of the moment decision made with the misguided view that we were coming out of lockdown and this would be OK,” she explained in an Instagram Story. “I’m deeply sorry for breaking the rules and in turn understand that this puts people at risk. This was a serious and inexcusable error of judgement … I realize how irresponsible these actions were and I take full responsibility.”
Ora added: “Even though this won’t make it right, I want to sincerely apologize.”