Cardi B has been cleared of assault and battery charges.
The WAP hitmaker – whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar – was found not liable in the civil lawsuit brought against her by security guard Emani Ellis, who took action in 2020 over an alleged incident two years prior.
After the verdict was read out in court on Tuesday (02.09.25), Cardi thanked her lawyers, fans, the jurors and “everybody at home supporting me”.
And during a press conference after the verdict was read out, she warned: “This time around I’m going to be nice. The next person to try and do a frivolous lawsuit against me I’m going to countersuit and I’m going to make you pay because this is not OK.”
The 32-year-old rapper again stressed her innocence.
She said: “I did not touch that woman.”
Emani had alleged Cardi – who has Kulture, seven, Wave, three, and 11-month-old Blossom with estranged husband Offset – had spit on her face, used racial slurs and cut her face with her fingernail in her lawsuit.
She also alleged the rapper, who was four months pregnant at the time, had “used her celebrity status” to get her fired from her job and sued over claims of assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and false imprisonment following the incident.
While she sought $24 million in damages, the security guard insisted the case was “never about the money.”
She told reporters in the wake of the verdict: “What she did to me was real, never about the money, but more importantly, it’s about the accountability.
“My position is the same. She assaulted and battered me, and I don’t want her to get away with it. I don’t want it to be overlooked.”
During the trial, Emani’s lawyer said she was no longer seeking millions of dollars and instead was only looking for compensation for her medical expenses, plus $250,000.
The Drip singer denied the allegations and accused the woman of instigating the altercation by following her down the hallway at the doctor’s office and trying to record her.
Cardi insisted the altercation had never turned physical but admitted they were standing “chest to chest” and she yelled: “B****, get the f*** out of my face.”
