The Grammy award-winning rapper Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, better known as Cardi B, has been cleared of all charges surrounding a 2018 incident with Emani Ellis, a former security guard at Beverly Hills Medical Center. 

The trial ran from Aug. 25 to Sept. 2 in Los Angeles. It began when Ellis had accused Cardi of assault and battery. She then sued Cardi for $24 million in damages, claiming she lost her job as a result of the incident. Ellis claimed that Cardi attacked her, cutting her cheek with her 3-inch nails and spitting on her outside of the medical center. 

At the time of the alleged assault, Cardi was pregnant with her first child, which was not yet public knowledge. 

Ellis testified she was on duty when the rapper was visiting for an obstetric appointment. She alleged Cardi confronted her after she was overheard shouting, “Wow, it’s Cardi B.” 

She continued by saying Cardi accused her of spreading rumors about her whereabouts as a patient and used offensive language before scratching and spitting at her. Ellis claimed she was left with a scar and long-lasting mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression and PTSD. 

Dr. Brent Moelleken, Ellis’s plastic surgeon, testified that he had been treating marks on her cheek for four years after the incident. He claimed that Ellis had to get two or three more procedures done to treat a scar. Her family and psychologist took the stand to describe Ellis’s ongoing anxiety and depression after the incident. 

Cardi’s lawyers argued that Ellis’s story lacked consistency. Ellis had initially testified in her deposition that her cheek was cut. She later added that her nose was also scratched. 

However, in another statement, it said Cardi had only touched her nose. Cardi’s lawyer, Peter Anderson, claimed these changing stories made her testimony unreliable. He stated that Ellis had upset Cardi by telling others that she was a patient at the office, calling it “improper” since it would have been against her duties as a security guard. Ellis replied, “It was improper, but I never did it.” 

When Cardi took the stand, she was asked if she knew what “incident” or “altercation” meant. Cardi replied, “Yeah, like a fight.” She went on to explain that this had not been a physical fight,

only a verbal incident. She stated that Ellis had been filming her and was refusing her privacy. Her lawyer stated Cardi “feared for her unborn baby.” 

Some witnesses supported Cardi’s account of the incident. For instance, Dr. David Finke, who treated Ellis that day, testified that he saw no signs of injuries on her, but confirmed that his receptionist, Tierra Malcolm, was scratched while trying to intervene. Dr. Finke also testified that he tried to de-escalate the situation by getting Ellis back into the elevator and repeatedly told her to “stop and do your job.” Malcolm stated that Ellis had no visible cuts or bruises after the incident. 

After the closing arguments, the jury unanimously ruled her not guilty, clearing Cardi of the charges. Right before the verdict, while on lunch break, Cardi stepped outside the courthouse to greet reporters and fans. When one reporter asked her about parental issues involving her now ex-husband, Offset, Cardi threw a marker at them and shouted, “Stop disrespecting me like that!” The trial went viral on social media not only because of who it involved, but also due to Cardi’s stunning fashion, unrelated questions about wig changes, conversations about nail shapes and her unfiltered personality. 

Fans gathered outside the courthouse once the trial ended with signs, one read, “If the nail doesn’t fit, u must acquit”—a reference to the famous O.J. Simpson trial. 

Cardi later turned screengrabbed court photos into her newest album cover.