Posted by The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world in profound ways and life might never be the same — even with the promise of an effective vaccine. Not only did it bring the concert industry to its knees, but artists are also having to figure out creative ways to stay connected to their fans and pump out content.
But in order to continue making videos and doing photo shoots, COVID-19 testing is paramount to keeping everyone safe. On Tuesday (January 26), Cardi B revealed that kind of peace of mind comes with a hefty price tag. In a series of tweets, the Grammy Award-winning rapper laid out how much she’s spending a week on tests.
“I get Covid tested bout 4 times a week,” she wrote. “My glam and management gotta get tested as well. Every time we get tested is about 250$ each. This is seriously a new business [face palm emoji].”
I get Covid tested bout 4 times a week. My glam and management gotta get tested as well. Everytime we get tested is about 250$ each.This is seriously a new business ??♀️
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) January 26, 2021
When someone commented they thought COVID-19 tests were free, Cardi replied, “It’s free when you go to the doctors and shit but when it’s for work and you gotta have people test you at your home is not.”
She added, “It’s necessary because if you in my space and you get Covid I can get sued.If I do a commercial and I get Covid the company can get sued.Its all about not being a liability and is a requirement.The government should be paying for healthcare workers we pay out our own pockets.”
It’s free when you go to the doctors and shit but when it’s for work and you gotta have people test you at your home is not . https://t.co/8QOzW9th6u
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) January 26, 2021
Let’s say Cardi has to pay for tests for herself and three other people (a manager and two members of her “glam team”) four times per week. That would equal $1,000 alone for Cardi and $3,000 for her team, bringing the grand total to $4,000. If she kept this up for the entire year, she’d spend over $200,000 on tests alone.
With all Cardi has going on, it’s likely she’ll shell out way more than that. In August 2020, the multi-platinum artist revealed she spent over $100,000 on COVID-19 tests to shoot the “WAP” video with Megan The Stallion.
Cardi B Reveals ‘WAP’ Video Cost $1M To Make — & Prices Of Other Expensive Visuals
The money was evidently well spent though. The salacious video has racked up over 332 million YouTube views since its release and the song itself has broken numerous records, including being the first female rap collaboration to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100.
But the $100,000 was just the tip of the iceberg. Earlier this month, Cardi admitted she spent a whopping $1 million to make the entire video come to fruition. Revisit it below.