Not since M.I.A.’s 2009 Grammys performance in a ladybug costume on her actual due date, or Beyoncé’s pregnancy announcement at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, had there been such a memorable baby-bump awards show moment as there was at Sunday’s 2021 BET Awards — when Cardi B revealed, in spectacular fashion, that she and her husband Offset are expecting their second child.
When the hip-hop superstar strutted onstage about three and a half minutes into Offset’s performance with his group Migos of “Straightenin’”/“Type S***,” the audience at Los Angeles’s Microsoft Theater understandably went wild. But it was only when the cameras panned out that viewers totally understood that this was no ordinary surprise cameo. A wide shot showed that Cardi was glowing in a bedazzled, belly-baring Dolce & Gabbana onesie, looking well into at least her second trimester.
“Umm, OK, Bardi with the baby bump,” Black-ish actress Marsai Martin, who was presenting the Best Group award to Silk Sonic, quipped after Cardi’s big reveal. Later in the telecast, awards host Taraji P. Henson also referenced the potentially internet-breaking moment, saying, “Let’s go back to Cardi B and Offset giving us life — literally!”