Battle of the Ball Gowns! Cardi B and Nicki Minaj Both Hit Met Gala Red Carpet 8 Months After Brawl

Jul 05, 2023

Cardi B and Nicki Minaj were on their best behavior at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Costume Institute Gala on Monday night. They left their cattiness at home for fashion prom, eight months after their explosive New York Fashion Week fight, and channeled all their energy into the 2019 Met Gala Theme: Camp!

Cardi brought the red carpet with her to the Met, covered head to toe, in a custom oxblood Thom Browne gown that featured a train which extended outward in concentric circles for about 10 feet. According to Vogue, the gown, which is made from tulle and silk organza filled with down, took 35 people more than 2,000 hours to create, and is embellished with 30,000 feathers.

She topped the look off with a beaded headpiece that Browne made in collaboration with Stephen Jones. “I designed this dress for Cardi specifically because she has the ultimate beauty in a woman’s body, and that is what the dress is about for me: taking advantage of that beauty,” Browne told Vogue.

Minaj had a little more skin exposed in her custom Prabal Gurung blush dress featuring hand-embroidered chandelier crystals and a silk taffeta train. She teamed the look with custom pink satin and Swarovski Crystal Brother Vellies heels.

While the duo did not exchange any pleasantries on the carpet, the also did not engage in any yelling or high-heel throwing.

Be sure to check out all of PEOPLE’s Met Gala coverage to get the latest news on fashion’s biggest night.

The last fashion fête the stars attended ended in a major feud. The rappers had a blow-up during New York Fashion Week in September on the red carpet at the Harper’s Bazaar Icons party, which left Cardi with a golf-ball size bruise on her head.

In videos of the Sept. 7 incident that were posted online, Cardi is sheen charging at someone after Minaj hit the carpet. In a different video, Cardi can be heard screaming “say some s— about my daughter [Kulture] again.”

“Cardi walked towards Nicki and all of a sudden Cardi started screaming something about her child,” a source told PEOPLE. “She was yelling, ‘Bitch you feisty. Bitch don’t talk s— about my child’ at Nicki.”

The source also revealed Cardi “threw her shoe because she couldn’t get through” to Minaj who “was there with eight or nine bodyguards.”

Cardi later wrote a long scathing Instagram post which she entitled “PERIOD.” While it did not mention Minaj by name, it did suggest that she had tried to sabotage Cardi’s career and also spoken badly about the rapper’s daughter, Kulture Kiari.

RELATED: Cardi B and Nicki Minaj: A Brief History of Their Tumultuous Relationship

“I’ve let a lot of s— slide! I let you sneak diss me, I let you lie on me, I let you attempt to stop my bags, f— up the way I eat! You’ve threaten other artists in the industry, told them if they work with me you’ll stop f—— with them!! I let you talk big s— about me!!” she wrote.

“I addressed you once in person, I addressed you a second time in person, and every time you copped the plea!! But when you mention my child, you choose to like comments about me as a mother, make comments about my abilities to take care of my daughter is when all bets are f—— off!! I’ve worked to[sic] hard and come too far to let anybody f— with my success!!!! Bitches talk all that s— in they raps but in real life they pussy!! This s— really is for entertainment!!”

RELATED: Nicki Minaj Says Her Friend Was Actually the One to Hit Cardi B at NYFW Party: ‘She Beat You So Bad’

Seven weeks after the incident, Minaj shared her perspective on the brawl on her Beats 1 show Queen Radio show.

She explained that her friend Rah Ali was actually the one to hit Cardi. “Rah really, really beat Cardi’s ass bad,” Minaj said during the episode. “Rah beat you so bad, I was mad at Rah. You went home and told people security hit you, and we let that ride for legal reasons,” Minaj added of her pal, who costarred on season 6 of VH1’s Love & Hip Hop: New York with Cardi.

Following the rapper’s Queen Radio show, Cardi called out Nicki Minaj in 10 separate expletive-filled Instagram videos, leading to a heated back and forth between them on social media.

After throwing a series of jabs at one another, Minaj seemed to call a truce.

“Ok you guys, let’s focus on positive things only from here on out. We’re all so blessed. I know this stuff is entertaining & funny to a lot of people but I won’t be discussing this nonsense anymore,” she tweeted. “Thank you for the support & encouragement year after year. Love you.”

Cardi responded bu posting a screenshot of Minaj’s tweet on Instagram and writing: “@Nickiminaj alright then! Let’s keep it positive and keep it pushing!”