US rapper Cardi B has been cleared of all allegations in a civil lawsuit brought by Emani Ellis, a former security guard who claimed the star assaulted her during a heated exchange in 2018.
A Los Angeles jury returned the unanimous verdict after less than an hour of deliberation, rejecting Ellis’s demand for $24 million in damages.
The lawsuit alleged that Cardi B spat on Ellis, used racial slurs, and physically attacked her at a Beverly Hills OB/GYN clinic, where the rapper was attending a private medical appointment while pregnant with her first child.
Throughout the trial, Cardi B maintained she never touched Ellis but admitted to a verbal altercation. Witnesses, including her doctor and a clinic receptionist, supported her version, testifying that no assault occurred.
The rapper, born Belcalis Almánzar, expressed relief after the decision, thanking her legal team and supporters. “I’ve been carrying this burden for years. The truth finally came out,” she told reporters outside court.
Cardi also warned she would consider countersuing in the future to discourage what she described as “frivolous lawsuits” aimed at exploiting her celebrity status.
For Ellis, the verdict marks the end of a legal battle that stretched over six years, during which the claims remained a shadow over Cardi B’s career.
