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Cardi B slammed for depicting Hindu goddess Durga on magazine cover, but fans say every woman is sacred anyway

The rapper shared a pic from her latest Reebok’s campaign where she appears to be posing as the Hindu goddess Durga

Cardi B always manages to find herself in new controversies. The ‘WAP’ hit-maker, who recently grabbed a deal with renowned shoe company Reebok for their new collection, is getting slammed on social media for gracing the cover of a magazine while posing in a culturally inappropriate manner. The 28-year-old rapper took to her official Instagram account to share one of the pics from her latest Reebok’s campaign where she appears to be posing as the Hindu goddess Durga.

While sharing the pic on her photo-sharing app with her 78 million followers Cardi B captioned the picture as, “Loving all over my @footwearnews cover!” The Grammy award-winning artist can be seen decked up in an off-shoulder long red outfit with a red-colored shoe from Reebok’s latest collection in her hands. While the rest of the hands like Hindu goddess Durga appears behind her back in different positions.

The official Instagram page of the Footwear News, who sat for an exclusive interview with the rapper, also shared the same picture and captioned it as, “If Cardi’s rockin’ it, go buy stock in it. That’s a tip as FN’s November cover star @iamcardib makes her first major foray into the shoe industry with the Nov 13 debut of her Club C Cardi sneaker collection with @Reebok.⁠ In a @GeorgesHobeika dress, she pays homage to Durga, the Hindu goddess, whose symbols of protection and inner strength resonate as much in modern times as they have through the centuries. Like Durga, Cardi B is a dominant female voice at a critical time.⁠”

The controversial picture did not go down well with Hindus as they logged into Twitter to lash out at Cardi B. One wrote, “If she has to dress up like durga maa it's okay but holding a shoe on her hand is disrespectful why i am saying this because u compared her to durga ma. At least don't do that. You are setting cardi up wtf remove the post.” One tweeted, “How absurd is this?? Equalling a sacred goddess to a stripper and rapper? Yeah definitely Cardi B speaks her mind & is straightforward. But please don't disgrace the Durga Goddess in this way. At least portray her in a more respectful way.”

One added, “Do you even know that every weapon she carries in each of her hand has a significant meaning behind it? And it's not just for your 'aesthetic' pleasure! And Cardi is holding a SHOE. So, before using words like 'homage' please educate yourself.” One said, “I don't want any of her stans to pull that stupid racism card...if i see anyone u are on sight bi**h, also other people from same community bi**h. u don't play racism card to us now ❗❗❗❗ i m not hating on her or something but tell her to read about mythology first.” Yet another wrote: “People are saying Cardi B is paying homage to our hindu goddess Durga. So as a Hindu I want to say that: 1-Wearing a shoe in a temple is prohibited. 2-Durga maa is not to be used as an aesthetic. 3-Durga maa is NEVER depicted bare bodied. 4-THIS. IS. NOT. HOMAGE. IT'S. DISRESPECT.”

While a lot of them got offended with Cardi B for promoting a shoe brand by imitating a goddess, there were social media users who were comfortable with the idea and slammed them in return for getting offended. One user said, “the thing is cardi was told to do dat by da creator of the photoshoot, she had no idea about dis and the creators never gave her real info about the goddess, she didn't come up wit dis herself, she at photoshoot so she obviously didn't know about dis or da meaning”. One asserted, “I think she doesn't need to copy any Hindu Goddess, according to Hinduism every woman is godess, so cardi B herself is a goddess.”

Cardi B had deactivated her Twitter account a while ago after she had addressed her nude pic controversy on the micro-blogging site with an audio note. She is yet to revert on the backlash she is currently facing on social media.