Fury Erupts After Cardi B Weighs In on Teen Killer’s 35-Year Sentence — And Her Comments Have the Internet at War Just hours after 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony was sentenced for the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old high school athlete, the Grammy-winning rapper posted a reaction that critics are calling shocking, insensitive, and deeply disrespectful to a family that spent months seeking justice. As outrage spreads across social media, thousands are accusing celebrities of using their influence to defend the indefensible, while others insist the controversy is being misunderstood.
Grammy-award winning rapper Cardi B came under fire for criticizing the verdict for Karmelo Anthony’s murder trial hours after he was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Tuesday.
Anthony, 19, was found guilty in the murder of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, a high school athlete he fatally stabbed at a track and field meet in Frisco, Texas in April 2025.
Cardi B blasted the verdict in a viral post on X.
Cardi B reacts to verdict of Karmelo Anthony TrialInstagram/@iamcardib
“Wow! Just freakin wow! DISGUSTING… This is not justice, this is trying to make an example!!!” she wrote.
Cardi B’s X post reacting to the trial verdict, disgustedX/@iamcardib
Lame-duck Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) also offered her reaction to the trial – and seemingly implied that she too would have stabbed Metcalf.
“If a 300-pound man is beating me, like on top of me and beating me down, I’m not limited to fists,” Crockett said during Tuesday’s episode of “Clock It with Crockett.”
The murder trial was highly politicized as Anthony’s sympathizers painted Metcalf as a white bully targeting a black competitor. His supporters raised more than $600,000 for his defense on a since-deleted GiveSendGo page.
Anthony stabbed Metcalf in the chest during a dispute over seating at the meet, where their rival high schools were set to compete.
Anthony refused to vacate Metcalf’s high school’s bleacher area despite being asked roughly 15 times by Metcalf and others.
As the argument escalated, Anthony warned Metcalf, “Touch me and find out.” Witnesses told the jury that they saw Anthony dip his hand into his backpack as if ready to grab something.
Anthony, who is now 19 years old, stabbed Metcalf in the chest during an altercation between two teensInstagram/Kala Hayes Anthony
When Metcalf eventually shoved Anthony, the irate teen whipped a semi-serrated folding knife out of his bag, plunging it once into the victim’s chest, according to testimony.
Metcalf’s twin brother, Hunter, and other horrified teens rushed to try to save the mortally wounded student. Anthony, meanwhile, was stopped by coaches when he tried to flee, jurors heard.
Anthony insisted he acted in self-defense but did not take the witness stand during the trial — a move experts say likely sealed his fate.
A mob raged outside of the Collin County, Texas courthouse when the four-day “mini-trial” came to a close.
“Thirty-five years for self-defense! If [Metcalf] was white, we wouldn’t even be here today, it never would’ve had a court, there never would’ve been no handcuffs, we wouldn’t be here today!” one woman shouted when Anthony’s sentence was confirmed.
The unidentified Anthony supporter claimed that Metcalf was dead because “somebody didn’t know how to go get an adult.”
“[Metcalf’s mother] should’ve taught your sons to go get a motherf–kin’ adult like we know how to do!” she snapped.
Anthony’s own grandmother shouted “Racist!” while riling up the crowd as she left the courthouse.Many in the crowd pinned blame on the uneven jury, which didn’t feature a single black person.
