The rapper recently shared her thoughts on the missing Titanic submersible—specifically Brian Szasz, the stepson of missing billionaire Hamish Harding, admitting that he attended a Blink-182 concert amid continued efforts to locate and rescue his stepfather and the four other missing crew members. And it’s safe to say she doesn’t quite agree with his actions.
“People is like, ‘Well what is he supposed to do?,” Cardi said on her June 20 Instagram Story. “‘Be sad at the house? Is he supposed to go look for himself?’ Yes.”
The 30-year-old noted that if she was the one missing, she would expect those who love her to show a little more concern. “You supposed to be at the house sad,” she continued. “You supposed to be crying for me. You supposed to be right next to the phone waiting to hear any updates about me.”
The “WAP” singer also reflected on the idea of money buying happiness.
“Isn’t it sad that you a whole f–king billionaire and nobody gives a f–k about you?” Cardi asked. “That’s crazy. I’d rather be broke. I’d rather be broke and poor, but knowing that I’m loved.”
The rapper’s comments come one day after Brian shared a photo from a Blink 182 concert in a since-deleted June 19 Facebook post. Alongside the image, according to screenshots obtained by multiple outlets, he wrote, “It might be distasteful being here but my family would want me to be at the blink-182 show as it’s my favorite band and music helps me in difficult times!”
And amid criticism he’s received online over his attending at the show, the 37-year-old is defending himself.
“Yes I went to @blink-182 last night,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories June 20 alongside a photo of him at the venue. “What am I supposed to do sit at home and watch the news? Not sorry this band has helped me through hard times since 1998.”
As for why he deleted the original post? He added on Facebook that his mother Linda “asked me to delete all related posts.”
OceanGate Expeditions via AP
The 21-foot submersible and its five passengers disappeared on June 18 during a mission to explore the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, which is more than 350 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
Over the last 24 hours, a significant update has emerged amid the race to find the missing deep-sea vessel, which is owned by OceanGate Expeditions. U.S. Coast Guard officials shared that a Canadian aircraft was redirected to a particular part of the search area after it “detected underwater noises in the search area.”
“As a result, ROV operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises,” their June 21 statement shared to Twitter read. “Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue.”
Keep reading to learn more about the five crew members currently missing aboard the Titanic submersible:
Courtesy of the Dawood family
Shahzada Dawood & Son Suleman Dawood
On June 18, 2023, a deep-sea submersible Titan, operated by the U.S.-based company OceanGate Expeditions and carrying five people on a voyage to the wreck of the Titanic, was declared missing. Following a five-day search, the U.S. Coast Guard announced at a June 22 press conference that the vessel suffered a “catastrophic implosion” that killed all five passengers on board.
Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, both British citizens, were also among the victims.
Their family is one of the wealthiest in Pakistan, with Shahzada Dawood serving as the vice chairman of Engro Corporation, per The New York Times. His son was studying at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.
Shahzada’s sister Azmeh Dawood told NBC News that Suleman had expressed reluctance about going on the voyage, informing a relative that he “wasn’t very up for it” and felt “terrified” about the trip to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, but ultimately went to please his father, a Titanic fan, for Father’s Day.
The Dawood Foundation mourned their deaths in a statement to the website, saying, “It is with profound grief that we announce the passing of Shahzada and Suleman Dawood. Our beloved sons were aboard OceanGagte’s Titan submersible that perished underwater. Please continue to keep the departed souls and our family in your prayers during this difficult period of mourning.”
Stockton Rush
OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush was the pilot of the Titan. The entrepreneur—who founded the research company in 2009 in Everett, Wash.—had long been interested in exploration. Rush, 61, previously said he dreamed of becoming the first person on Mars and once said that he’d “like to be remembered as an innovator.”
In addition to leading voyages to see the remnants of the Titanic, Rush had another surprising connection to the historic 1912 event: His wife Wendy Rush is the great-great-granddaughter of a couple who died on the Titanic, Ida and Isidor Straus.
Action Aviation via AP
Hamish Harding
British billionaire Hamish Harding confirmed he was a part of the mission in a June 17 Instagram post, a day before the submersible went into the water and disappeared.
“I am proud to finally announce that I joined @oceangateexped for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic,” he wrote. “Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.”
Harding—the chairman of aircraft company Action Aviation—said the group had started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada and was planning to start dive operations around 4 a.m. on June 18. The 58-year-old added, “Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.”
His past explorations included traveling to the deepest part of the ocean in the Mariana Trench, telling Gulf News in 2021, “It was an incredibly hostile environment. To travel to parts of the Challenger Deep where no human had ever been before was truly remarkable.”
The Dubai-based businessman also circumnavigated the Earth by plane with the One More Orbit project and, last year, took a trip to space on Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. Harding shared his love for adventure with his son Giles, described as a “teen explorer” on his Instagram.
As for the fifth member, a representative for French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet told the New York Times that he was a passenger on the Titan, with Harding also referencing him on Instagram as a member of the team.
The Times described him as a maritime expert who was previously part of the French Navy. The 71-year-old was a bonafide Titanic specialist and has traveled to the wreckage 35 times before. Nargeolet served as the director of RMS Titanic, Inc., a company that researches, salvages and displays artifacts from the famed ship, per the outlet.
Alongside fellow passenger Hamish Harding, he was a member of The Explorers Club, founded in 1904.
OceanGate Expeditions via AP
The Titan
As Harding noted in his post, the submersible—named Titan—was a part of an OceanGate Expeditions tour that explores the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, which infamously sank in 1912.
The company expressed its sympathies to the families of the victims. “These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” OceanGate said in a statement. “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”