US rapper Cardi B waves as she arrives prior to the Chanel Women's Spring-Summer 2020 Ready-to-Wear collection fashion show at the Grand Palais in Paris, on October 1, 2019.
Cardi B has never shied away from raw and direct rap lyrics, or voicing her opinions about culture, the music industry and life overall. It's no different she's been very vocal about her views on the pandemic, even lending her voice in the "Coronavirus" song earlier during a quarantine.
In the past, she has made some complaints about the Covid-19 test. On Tuesday, she disclosed the exact cost of each Covid-19 test, alluding to an idea that Covid might be turning into a business.
"I get Covid tested bout 4 times a week. My glam and management gotta get tested as well," Cardi B wrote on her Twitter. "Every time we get tested is about 250$ each.This is seriously a new business."
When responding to a fan, Cardi said although it's free to get tested at a doctor's office or in a hospital, when it is required for business such as the music industry or production sets for films and TV shows, payment is required.
"It's necessary because if you in my space and you get Covid I can get sued," Cardi B explains. "If I do a commercial and I get Covid the company can get sued. It's all about not being a liability and is a requirement. The government should be paying for healthcare workers we pay out our own pockets."
This was the moment when people seemed not to take what she said too kindly. In particular, a nurse that responded mentioned that she worked on a Covid floor and testing the nurses or asking them to get tested rarely happens. Celebrities and politicians are offered the vaccine before them.
"Well this tweet is not about complaining about CAPITALISM How Covid is becoming a business and if this was part of the plan," Cardi B said. "How ya getting mad at me because it's a requirement to get tested? Just to shoot a commercial even the janitors must get tested twice."
From personal experience, my mother is also a nurse and already received her second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from the hospital she works at, but every hospital is different.
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In a way, I feel that the nurse could be trying to say Cardi B could always put the glam and production on hold since, in a way, entertainment isn't really essential, but I do realize that it is still a business and her source of income. Also, many production teams are within unions, so they follow the SAG- AFTRA guidelines, which require testing. Some nurses —like the one who commented—are on the frontlines, and the sacrifices made daily aren't always recognized or taken into account. Hence the lack of vaccinations and testing.
Moreover, Cardi B has revealed that some of her music videos, notably "WAP", have cost her over a million dollars. The $250 Covid-19 tests probably won't amount to that cost, but it still makes all the difference in taking the proper precautions.
Is Covid-19 testing really becoming a business?
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