Cardi B debuted vibrant red curls and a bold, colorful outfit for her BET Awards performance.
Cardi won Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, reflecting her success with her latest album ‘Am I the Drama?’.
Cardi discouraged her fans from bullying her rival, reflecting on her own experiences with online criticism.
Cardi B made a dramatic style statement at the 2026 BET Awards, surprising fans with a vibrant red hair transformation as she took the stage for one of the night’s biggest performances.
Source: Gilbert Flores / Getty
The 33-year-old rapper skipped the red carpet but ensured all eyes were on her once she appeared at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater. Debuting fiery red curls in place of her signature black hair, Cardi delivered a high-energy set featuring tracks from her latest album, Am I the Drama?.
For the performance, Cardi — born Belcalis Almánzar — wore a colorful corset featuring an intergalactic-inspired print in shades of purple, pink and yellow. She completed the look with a structured purple coat boasting oversized shoulder pads and a dramatic collar, along with fishnet tights and matching thigh-high purple boots.
She powered through several songs from Am I the Drama?, including “Hello,” “Check Please,” “Errtime” and “Pretty & Petty.”
Cardi’s entrance was just as memorable as her outfit. She kicked off the performance standing atop a motorcycle before joining her dancers in a city-themed set, where she performed atop a roulette table and showcased her pole-dancing skills.
In addition to her performance, Cardi also won Best Female Hip-Hop Artist.
“Thank you so much for this award. This award means so much to me. Three babies later, I put the album out, honey. Yes. I overcame my fear, my anxiety and I put it out,” she said of her Am I the Drama? album, which was released last year and marked her first full-length project since 2018’s Invasion of Privacy. “I put it out, and guess what? I won an award.”
The rapper entered the ceremony with six nominations, including Viewers’ Choice Award for “Outside,” Best Collaboration for the “Errtime Remix” with Jeezy and Latto, Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, Video Director of the Year alongside Patientce Foster, Album of the Year and the Fashion Vanguard Award.
Wrapping up her acceptance speech, Cardi thanked those closest to her.
“I love my babies. I love Jesus. Thank you so much.”
Although Cardi performed her Bia diss track “Pretty & Petty” during the show, she later took to social media to discourage fans from targeting her rival online.
“Please don’t pick on that girl,” she expressed, as caught by Livebitez on Instagram. “I am very big against Internet bullying. Unless my fans have to… But if somebody’s not bothering me, and I feel like she’s not bothering me, I don’t want to be the reason why somebody gets on the Internet and has a bad day or gets depressed or feels bad or feels like the world is against them. Because I really went through that before.”
The Bronx native reflected on her own experiences with online criticism while explaining why she wanted to avoid fueling further harassment.
“All these b****es, blogs was against me…” the Bronx native continued. “I do like teaching b****es a lesson… But after a while, I’ll kill you and then I feel bad that I killed you and buried you… You really fed with me, so I had to do that. But yes, I’m not going to stop performing the show… If somebody don’t f**k with me, I don’t want to keep f***ing with them, ’cause it gives bullying. And I’m really not a bully unless I have to… My fans gon’ be like ‘Cardi, stop’…I don’t want to ever over-do it… I want to keep being blessed… If she ever see me, I know it’s gon’ be on sight. I know the b***h gon’ want to fight me… I’m with everything.”
