Nearly a decade ago, Rick Ross was widely criticized for a lyric in his 2011 song, "U.O.E.N.O." that seemed to encourage date rape.
Now, he's coming to Cardi B's defense as she continues to face backlash over a confession she made in an old video that resurfaced last week.
Speaking to followers on Instagram Live on Thursday, March 29, Rick said it's unfair to block those who admit they've done something wrong from earning a profit in the present.
In the video, Cardi admitted that when she worked as a stripper, she would spot men who expressed interest in sex, suggest they go to a hotel with her, then drug and rob them.
Critics compared her actions to those of R. Kelly, who has been accused of allegedly giving young teens drugs and alcohol then having his way with them, among other forms of sexual abuse, and Bill Cosby, who was accused by at least 60 women of drugging and raping them over a 50-year period.
Though it's implied the men were expecting to have sex with Cardi, the rapper says only that she took men's money, not that she raped them in the video.
Speaking to followers about the matter last week, Rick said, "Leave Cardi B alone because we don't need to persecute her for her past," according to Page Six.
"We need to be leaders and lead by example," he continued. "Regardless of what you did in your past, if you stole a car in the past, that don't mean you shouldn't be able to get money in the future. As long as you change your ways, and we all know Cardi B focused on the money now. She is a leader, and that's how I feel."
He added: "My circumstances and my incidents, where I did lose a seven-figure deal with Reebok and I took that to the chin. I have no love lost for Reebok, you understand, because I needed to understand that I was a king, you understand, and they're right I didn't need to promote that the parties I attended at the time from I'm from that was the lifestyle."
The "circumstances" to which he's referring are the endorsement deal he lost with Reebok over the lyrics, "Put molly all in her champagne/ She ain't even know it/ I took her home and I enjoyed that/ She ain't even know it."
As for Cardi, she posted a statement on Twitter about the backlash in which she said she intentionally keeps those memories out of her music so as not to "glorify" them and pointed to other, presumably male rappers who continue to rap about robbing and murdering people.
"I made the choices that I did at the time because I had very limited options," she said. "I was blessed to have been able to rise from that but so many women have not. Whether or not they were poor choices at the time I did what I had to do to survive."
She announced the post with the words, "all I can do now is be a better me for myself my family my future."