Cardi B Reveals Reason Her and Offset’s Divorce Isn’t Finalized as She Insinuates Rapper Wants to ‘Hold Me Hostage’

Cardi B claims that she and Offset haven’t finalized their divorce yet for financial reasons.

While livestreaming on X Spaces on Monday, Sept. 22, the rapper, whose real name is Belcalis Almánzar, explained why she is still married to Offset despite filing for divorce over a year ago. She also defended announcing her pregnancy with boyfriend Stefon Diggs while being legally married.

“The only reason why I’m still married is because somebody wants me to pay for their taxes,” Cardi B, 32, said during her livestream, alluding to her marriage to the 33-year-old rapper, with whom she shares three children.

“Y’all wanna know the tea? The only way I can get out of my marriage is if I pay for somebody else’s taxes, even though I pay for my own, and give them one of my properties. I’mma fight for that. This is not no love s—. I’m not gonna stop living my life.”

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Cardi B did note that she and Offset, whose real name is Kiari Cephus, are “legally separated.” “On a contract, I’m practically still married, because somebody [wants to] hold me hostage if I don’t give them millions of dollars to get out of it,” she said.

Cardi B and Offset began dating in 2017 and got married the same year. Their relationship had been on and off throughout its duration. The “I Like It” musician filed for divorce from Offset in 2020, retracted it and filed again in 2024.

Days before the livestream and while promoting her latest album, Am I the Drama?, Cardi B announced that she was expecting her fourth child, her first with New England Patriots star Diggs, 31.

She soke about her pregnancy news elsewhere during her X Spaces livestream, calling out people who “make it seem like I got a hundred gazillion baby daddies.”

“I have three kids with one man that I married,” she added of Offset. “Yes, I’m having a baby with somebody else. So what? That happens, it’s life.”

Cardi B went on to defend having a baby with someone else before finalizing her divorce.

“Let me tell you something — I did things the correct way the first time. I fell in love. I got two rings [on] my finger. I lasted seven years, seven years that I didn’t have to last with somebody. I lasted seven years in a marriage.”

“Stop saying, oh, but you’re still married. No, I’m legally separated,” added the rapper.

In May, TMZ reported that Offset filed an amended divorce response, asking for spousal support of no specific amount from Cardi B, along with still asking for joint custody of their children, daughters Kulture Kiari, 7, and Blossom Belle, 1, and son Wave Set, 4.

When asked during an interview with Billboard in early September if she “envision[ed] a lasting friendship with him” following their split, Cardi B said: “I tried.”

She then added: “Next question.”