A California jury unanimously agreed to clear rapper and entertainer Cardi B of assault allegations on Tuesday.
Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, was hit with a $24 million civil lawsuit by a former security guard, Emani Ellis, who alleged that the star spat on her and scratched her nose during an altercation in 2018.
During the trial last month, Cardi testified that she was keeping her pregnancy with her first child under wraps when she went for an appointment with an obstetrician in Beverly Hills. She said Ellis, who was working security for the building, followed her and recorded her on video.
“I told her, ‘Why are you recording?’” Cardi testified. “And she said, ’Oh my bad.’ She practically apologized.”
“As we were arguing she’s backing me, she’s walking into me,” Cardi added.
But at no point did either of them get into a physical fight, Cardi said.
“She couldn’t get a scratch from me because I didn’t touch her,” Cardi testified.
She also acknowledged that Ellis didn’t escalate to a physical confrontation.
“She didn’t touch me,” Cardi said on the stand. “She was going to touch me, but she didn’t get to touch me.”
Ellis said in her testimony that the scratch allegedly inflicted by Cardi required a cosmetic procedure because of scarring. Ellis also lost her job over the incident, and said the experience has been traumatizing.
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David Finke, the doctor Cardi was going to see that day, testified that he witnessed the altercation but never saw Cardi assault Ellis, NBC News reported. He said that during the argument, he told Ellis to “stop” and “do your job.”