Cardi B is pushing back against criticism from Megan Thee Stallion’s fans following the announcement of her collaboration with Pardison Fontaine, Megan’s ex. The controversy erupted after Fontaine teased the long-awaited track on social media, reigniting tensions among their fan bases.

On February 4, Fontaine shared a snippet of Toot It, a song he recorded with Cardi nearly a decade ago. “It’s BEEN 8 YEARS @iamcardib,” he wrote. “GET THIS SONG OFF MY HARD DRIVE!!! N THEY KEEP ASKING FOR THIS!!!” He later confirmed the track would drop on February 7.

The news didn’t sit well with Megan’s supporters, who accused Cardi of siding with Fontaine despite his public falling-out with Megan. Many viewed the collaboration as a betrayal, especially after Fontaine released a diss track aimed at his ex. Cardi, however, wasted no time defending herself.

During a fiery exchange on X (formerly Twitter) Spaces, she dismissed the backlash, calling Fontaine her “best friend” and reminding fans of their long history. “Leave me alone with that Pardison s***,” she said. “Pardison f****** did me the f****** hook of Bodak Yellow. He helped me with my f****** album. I’ve known this person since 2012.”

She then made it clear that she wasn’t choosing sides. “I wanna make this very clear,” she said. “When I f*** with two people, I stay out of their s***. Relationships have drama, and I refuse to get in the middle of it.”

Speaking directly to Fontaine and Megan, she doubled down. “Both of y’all know that’s how I am. I f*** with both of y’all. God forbid something happens, I don’t want to be caught in the middle. None of that s*** is my business.”

Cardi then turned her attention back to the fans fueling the controversy. “Stop f****** harassing me. Stop calling me a fake person. Stop calling me a fake b****, because that’s not what I am.”

Despite the drama, Cardi had more to share. During the same conversation, she confirmed that her long-awaited album is officially complete.

Megan Thee Stallion on the other hand, battle with criticism over her shooting case against Rapper Tory Lanez. On Monday Rapper Tory Lanez was hospitalized after an attack at a California prison where he’s serving a 10-year sentence for shooting hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in the feet, authorities said.

Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, was attacked at a housing unit at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, at about 7:20 a.m., Pedro Calderon Michel, spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said in an email.

Michel did not specify how Lanez was attacked, but a message posted on the rapper’s Instagram account Monday evening said Lanez was stabbed 14 times and both his lungs collapsed. The post said Lanez is breathing on his own.

“Despite being in pain, he is talking normally, in good spirits, and deeply thankful to God that he is pulling through,” the post said, adding Lanez was stabbed in his back, torso, head and face.

Staff immediately gave Lanez medical aid and called 911, and he was taken to an outside hospital, Michel said. The prison’s investigative unit and the Kern County District Attorney’s Office are investigating, he said.

The prison is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Los Angeles in the mountains of the Mojave Desert and houses about 1,700 medium- and maximum-security inmates.

In December 2022, Lanez was convicted of three felonies: assaul/t with a semiautomatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

Megan, whose legal name is Megan Pete, testified during the trial that in July 2020, after they left a party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home, Lanez fired the gun at the back of her feet and shouted for her to dance as she walked away from an SUV in which they had been riding.

She had bullet fragments in both feet that had to be surgically removed. It wasn’t until months after the incident that she publicly identified Lanez as the person who had fired the gun.

A judge rejected a motion for a new trial from Lanez’s lawyers, who are appealing his conviction. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Megan recently alleged that Lanez was harassing her from prison through surrogates, and in January a judge issued a protective order through 2030 ordering him to stop any such harassment or any other contact.

The 32-year-old Canadian Lanez began releasing mixtapes in 2009 and saw a steady rise in popularity, moving on to major label albums, two of which reached the top 10 on Billboard’s charts.

The case created a firestorm in the hip-hop community, churning up issues including the reluctance of Black victims to speak to police, gender politics in hip-hop, online toxicity, and the ramifications of misogynoir, a particular brand of misogyny Black women experience.

The often dramatic trial was packed with friends and family members of Lanez who felt he was a victim of both the justice system and the powerful people around Megan, who his managed by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.

When the verdict was announced, Lanez’s father, Sonstar Peterson, jumped up and angrily denounced prosecutors and the system before he was dragged from the chaotic courtroom where many in the audience were shouting similar things. He later apologized to the judge.

Megan Thee Stallion, 30, was already a major rising star at the time of the shooting, and her music’s popularity has soared since. She won a Grammy for best new artist in 2021, and she had No. 1 singles with “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé, and as a guest on Cardi B’s “WAP.”