MTV returned to New York's Radio City Music Hall Monday night for the annual Video Music Awards, honoring the year’s s biggest & most accomplished work in music. Before the likes of Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, & Post Malone all take the stage to give their respective performances, Cardi B opened up the show with a quick monologue, teasing fans that we were about to see her baby daughter Kulture for the first time.
Rocking short hair and a red dress, Cardi was seen holding what looked to be her newborn baby wrapped in her arms as she joked about being the “empress” and not getting any phone service in the building as part of her opening monologue, but we were all duked. It turns out it wasn’t baby Kulture in her arms, but rather a moonman "moonperson" trophy instead.
“I got a little surprise for you,” Cardi said as she was about to reveal the first photo of baby Kulture. Then revealing the moonman, Cardi laughed at her prank and eventually introduced the show’s first performance, Shawn Mendes.
Cardi’s appearance served as her first public showing since welcoming daughter Kulture Kiari less than two months ago. She was supposed to hit the road with Bruno Mars starting next month, but instead backed out to concentrate on her recovery and to be a mother. “I thought that after giving birth to my daughter that 6 weeks would be enough time for me to recover mentally and physically,” she wrote. “I also thought that I’d be able to bring her with me on tour, but I think I underestimated this whole mommy thing.”
Check out Cardi’s opening monologue at the VMA’s (below).