Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B, known for hits such as “Taki Taki” and “WAP,” has won a California civil trial after a security guard accused her of assault in 2018.
A jury reached a unanimous verdict after about an hour of deliberation. Emani Ellis had sought USD 24 million in damages over the alleged altercation.
The dispute began outside a Beverly Hills obstetrician’s office while Cardi B was secretly pregnant with her first child.
Plaintiff claims scratches, spit, slurs during altercation
Ellis claimed that Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, cut her cheek with an acrylic fingernail. She also accused the rapper of spitting on her and shouting slurs outside the medical office.
Ellis told the court that the incident left her “traumatised.” She also said it affected her employment and required cosmetic surgery for a facial scar.
According to Ellis, Cardi B caused a disturbance inside the building. She claimed staff asked the rapper to leave before the argument turned into a physical confrontation.
Cardi B denied touching Ellis. She said she “feared for her unborn baby” during the incident.
“She couldn’t get a scratch from me because I didn’t touch her,” Cardi B told the court.
The rapper said the confrontation started after Ellis followed her and tried to record her outside the obstetrician’s office. Cardi B feared the video could reveal her pregnancy before she announced it publicly.
When Ellis’s lawyer, Ron Rosen Janfaza, asked whether Cardi B was angry, she replied: “Yes, I was angry! Because I’m pregnant! And this girl’s about to beat my a**!”
Witness testimony bolsters Cardi’s defence
Testimony from medical office staff also supported Cardi B’s account of the incident.
Receptionist Tierra Malcolm told the jury that she stepped between the two women. She said she did not see Cardi B make physical contact with Ellis.
Malcolm instead said Ellis swung her arms during the argument and appeared to act as the aggressor. Malcolm suffered a cut to her head while trying to separate the women.
The trial also examined Cardi B’s acrylic nails. The rapper described them as “coffin-shaped with rounded tips” and said they “weren’t sharp.”
Her testimony challenged Ellis’s claim that the nails caused her facial injury.
The jury’s verdict
The trial aired on Court TV and generated viral clips across social media. Cardi B argued that Ellis brought the lawsuit in an attempt to secure a financial payout.
After hearing the evidence, the jury rejected Ellis’s claims and found in Cardi B’s favour.
Outside the courthouse in Alhambra, Cardi B said she would take a stronger approach to similar lawsuits in the future.
“The next person to try to do a frivolous lawsuit against me, I’m going [to] countersue, and you’re going to pay,” she said.
“I’m not that celeb that you’re going to sue and I’m going to settle… I work hard for my money.”
Cardi B also asked her fans not to harass Ellis after the verdict.
Ellis, meanwhile, said she had no regrets about bringing the case.
“I don’t want it to be overlooked. I don’t want it to be something that’s brushed under the rug,” she told reporters after the verdict.
“What she did to me was real.”
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