Cardi B's Courtroom Drama Has Come To A Head

Seven years after a Beverly Hills elevator encounter went sideways, Cardi B and a security guard are letting a jury decide who attacked whom.

The closing arguments Tuesday painted two completely different pictures of what happened on February 24, 2018, when pregnant Cardi B stepped off an elevator and came face-to-face with security guard Emani Ellis. Either Ellis was doing her job and got scratched by an out-of-control celebrity, or she was a fan who cornered a pregnant woman and went "berserk."

Two Sides to the Story

Ellis's lawyer, Ron Rosen Janfaza, wants the jury to believe his client was just doing routine rounds when Cardi B "violently" attacked her, leaving a scratch on her left cheek. He's asking for $250,000 for pain and suffering, plus medical expenses. "She was abused. She was harmed. She was assaulted and battered by Cardi B, and Cardi B needs to pay for that," he told jurors.

Cardi's defense attorney, Peterson Anderson, had a different take: Ellis knew Cardi was coming, was "lying in wait" with her phone, and refused to stop filming even when asked. "Plaintiff had the chance to be professional and avoid all of this by putting her phone away," Anderson argued. "That's all she had to do."

The testimony from last week was pure courtroom theater. Cardi B, born Belcalis Almánzar, delivered several viral one-liners while insisting she never touched Ellis. She was four months pregnant with her first child, hadn't told her parents yet, and considered the pregnancy "sacred." She'd asked her bodyguard to wait downstairs specifically to keep the OB-GYN visit private.

According to Cardi, Ellis announced her arrival to someone on the phone, then followed her down the hallway recording. "I asked her, 'Yo, why are you recording me? Aren't you security?'" Cardi testified. When Ellis allegedly replied "Because I can," things escalated quickly.

"Now we're like chest to chest," Cardi recalled. "I'm thinking to myself, this girl is big. She's got big black boots on. I'm like, damn, what the hell am I going to do now?"

Both women agree there was screaming. Lots of screaming. Cardi admitted to yelling "Bitch, get the fuck out of my face." But she insists it stayed verbal: "She didn't hit me. I didn't hit her. There was no touch."

Ellis tells it differently. She says she was surprised to see the rapper, blurted out her name, and then Cardi "put her finger in my face" and scratched her with a three-inch fingernail. "I was deeply traumatized about what happened," Ellis testified.

Witnesses Favor Cardi B’s Story

Here's where it gets interesting: the witnesses aren't helping Ellis's case.

Dr. David Finke, the obstetrician Cardi was visiting, rushed out to find what he called an "epic yelling match." He testified that Ellis was "flailing" her arms and actually "smacked" the receptionist, Tierra Malcolm. He was a foot from Ellis's face, staring directly at her while wrangling her into the elevator, and never saw any injury on her cheek.

The receptionist backed this up. Malcolm said she found Cardi "cornered" with her back to the wall. When Malcolm tried to intervene, she ended up with a scratch on her own forehead from Ellis's "arms flying in front of me." She never saw Cardi's hands come from behind her.

Both the doctor and receptionist confirmed Ellis had her phone in her hands the entire time.

The defense attorney hammered home what happened after this allegedly traumatic assault: Ellis went home and took a nap. No emergency room visit. No immediate doctor's appointment. No police report. Just a nap.

"She did not know if the scratch that supposedly ruined her life was even bleeding," Anderson pointed out.

Money Angle

Then there's the money angle. Cardi testified that Ellis demanded $24 million for her injuries. Ellis's lawyer now says she's not asking for "millions," just reasonable compensation. That's quite a comedown from $24 million to $250,000.

Ellis originally claimed in her 2020 lawsuit that Cardi used racial slurs and got her fired. She's since dropped the employment claim, and Malcolm testified she never heard any racial slurs during the confrontation.

A few months after the incident, Ellis called Malcolm asking for help with "some type of claim." Malcolm declined, saying, "I didn't think if I told my truth it would help her."

This isn't Cardi's first legal rodeo. She's won multiple civil trials, including a $4 million verdict against gossip blogger Tasha K. With her second album dropping September 19th, she probably doesn't need this drama.

Either way, this whole mess started with an elevator door opening. Seven years later, they're still arguing about what happened next.

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