By: Eugene Upah
Singer Cardi B took the stand in a Los Angeles courtroom this week, denying allegations that she assaulted a security guard during an altercation in 2017. The civil trial stems from a lawsuit filed by security guard Emani Ellis, who claims the rapper cut her face with a fingernail and spat on her.
The incident allegedly occurred outside an obstetrician’s office while Cardi B was in the early stages of her first pregnancy, a fact she was keeping private at the time.
During her testimony, the Grammy-winning artist acknowledged that the argument with Ellis became “very heated” but insisted it never turned physical.
“She couldn’t get a scratch from me because I didn’t touch her,” Cardi B said on the stand.
She explained that she was keeping her pregnancy a secret from the public, as it was just seven months after her breakout hit “Bodak Yellow” was released. She said she felt vulnerable and was “just so worried about what everybody was saying and thinking.”
The rapper testified that she became upset when she saw Ellis seemingly recording her on a phone, fearing the security guard would reveal her pregnancy.
“Why are you recording?” Cardi B recalled asking. “And she said: ‘Oh, my bad.’ She practically apologized.”
However, the argument escalated. Cardi B testified that Ellis was “walking into” her at one point, with the two women standing chest-to-chest. She maintained that no punches or scratches were exchanged.
Ellis, who lost her job after the incident, is seeking damages for medical expenses, emotional and physical suffering, and lost wages. Cardi B told the court that Ellis is “suing me for $24m.”
In her own earlier testimony, Ellis claimed the incident left her humiliated and traumatized, with a scar that required cosmetic surgery.
A receptionist from the doctor’s office, Tierra Malcolm, also testified, largely corroborating Cardi B’s account. Malcolm said she came out of the office after hearing a disturbance but saw no physical contact between the two. Malcolm said she later noticed a scratch on her own face, which she believes she got from Ellis during the scuffle.
A significant portion of the trial has focused on Cardi B’s nails at the time of the incident. The rapper described them as “coffin-shaped” with rhinestones and insisted they were “not sharp” or capable of causing the alleged damage.
The trial, which is taking place in a small courthouse outside Los Angeles, is set to continue next week.
