Nail technician claiming to turn down Cardi B for her loyal clients sparks debate

A nail technician has sparked a debate after claiming that wouldn’t cancel on her existing clients for Cardi B.

Taya, who goes by the username @pimpinyapops, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, on 27 July to claim that Cardi B wanted to book a nail appointment with her. However, according to Taya, she had to turn the request down for the sake of her other clients.

“People are so mad I didn’t take the Cardi B opportunity today because I decided to service my already booked clients,” she wrote. “Y’ALL HAVE TO UNDERSTAND, MY clients deserve to be serviced.”

She emphasised that she wouldn’t cancel her existing clients’ appointments for someone famous, adding: “I’ve cancelled before for a celebrity and regret it because I lost those clients. I’m loyal to the soil.”

Taya’s post has since gone viral on the platform, where it has accumulated more than 511,700 views. The post has also sparked mixed responses, with some claiming they would have chosen an appointment with the “Wap” singer over one with their usual clients if they had found themselves in Taya’s position.

“I am not a hater, so I would have voluntarily told my nail tech to cancel my appointment. How do you know Cardi wouldn’t have become a regular or started flying you out to do them? Could have been a lot of bigger opportunities,” one person wrote.

“It would have given your shop exposure. A true and loyal customer would have understood and even encouraged you to take the opportunity,” another added. “Just sayin.”

However, multiple people praised the nail technician for prioritising her loyal customers and business, since she allegedly chose not to do Cardi B’s nails.

“It’s good to know you’re not running a caste system, everyone should be treated equally, as a paying customer is a customer,” one person tweeted.

“Love that for you! You will go far. Your clients are your celebrities because they keep you paid in the long run. Cardi could be a one time deal,” another added.

“This is actually a great business decision. You’ve built your business on your regular clients who support you weekly/monthly,” a third agreed. “If you were unable to service @iamcardib while maintaining your regularly scheduled clients, then you definitely made the right decision.”

Amid the debate, Taya went on to respond to some opinions about the situation, with the nail technician defending her decision to prioritise her existing customers over Cardi B after a Twitter user claimed that the singer could have helped the nail technician expand her career.

“Let it have been your appointment for a special occasion and I up and choose a celebrity, you’re definitely not coming back to me,” she claimed in a tweet. “Not just that Cardi has a permanent nail tech who’s on temporary leave. I got noticed this time, it’ll happen again.”

Two days after sharing her now-viral tweet, Taya took to social media again to claim that she was “grateful” for her opportunity to work with Cardi B. She explained that while she “would love to service and meet” the rapper, the day on which the singer had wanted an appointment just “wasn’t [the] time”.

She appeared to defend herself from people who claimed that she was lying about the opportunity to work with Cardi B, adding: “This was not for clout, this was for me to show my loyalty to my clients. I rest my case, once again.”

However, when pop culture site Neighborhood Talk posted about Taya’s tweet on its Instagram, it appeared that Cardi B didn’t know who the nail technician was. In the comments of the post, the rapper wrote: “GIRL. WHO ARE YOU ?”

The Independent has contacted Taya and a representative for Cardi B for comment.

One day after Taya shared her post, Cardi B sparked her own debate after throwing her microphone at an audience member who’d tossed their drink at her while she was onstage at her concert in Las Vegas. 

On 31 July, authorities confirmed that the concertgoer had filed a police report, with claims that they were “struck by an item that was thrown from the stage”. As of now, no arrest or citation has been issued.