Kanye West has asserted that rapper Cardi B was “planted” in the music industry by some disgruntled executives to “replace” the “Queen of rap,” Nicki Minaj.

In leaked footage from an unreleased 2018 documentary, Kanye, while doubting Cardi B’s talent, claimed that she doesn’t write her lyrics.

The footage leaked Sunday, Oct. 1. In one video, the Chicago legend is sitting on a couch going through a magazine and speaking on Corey Gamble being a part of the CIA and claiming Cardi B is an “industry plant” that took over Nicki Minaj’s spot.

Kanye said: “Cardi B is a plant by the Illuminati.”

He continued: “She don’t write her raps. She just there to sound as ignorant as possible and then make songs like, ‘fuck them and get some money.’ She has literally replaced Nicki Minaj, purposely that they put her there, and now she doesn’t know what to do, and she has no idea what the fuck is going on. She thinks it’s just a blessing from the universe. It ain’t no blessing from the universe.”

Cardi B didn’t take Kanye’s statement to heart. She responded by sharing an interview Kanye did with Jason Lee in 2022 in which he spoke about how much he loves her and that he always believed in her.

“I’ve always believed in her since she was on the show,” Kanye West said in the video shared by Cardi B.

Cardi added a love emoji to the video without directly addressing the other video where Kanye was being critical of her.

Watch Kanye’s interview and Cardi’s response in the videos below.