Cardi B has denied claims that she assaulted a security guard during a confrontation outside a Los Angeles obstetrician’s office in 2018, telling a court that the dispute was verbal but never physical.
The rapper, whose real name is Belcalis Almánzar, testified this week in a civil case brought by security guard Emani Ellis. Ellis accuses the Grammy winner of cutting her cheek with a long fingernail, spitting on her, and launching into verbal threats.
According to Cardi B, the altercation unfolded while she was pregnant and had not yet publicly disclosed the news. She said Ellis had been following her, recording her without permission, and ignoring repeated requests to step back. “I didn’t touch her,” Cardi B testified. “It was like a verbal fight, but it didn’t get physical at all.”
She described how Ellis appeared to alert someone by phone to her presence, then continued recording as she walked down a hallway. Cardi B said she felt her privacy was invaded, leading to a heated confrontation. “We’re literally screaming at each other,” she told the court, admitting she shouted an obscenity while demanding Ellis “get out of my face.”
Ellis, however, gave a sharply different version. She claimed the rapper accused her of spreading word of her doctor’s visit, hurled insults and threats, and then attacked. Ellis testified that she sustained a facial injury in the process.
A plastic surgeon supported her account, telling the court that he treated Ellis for a scar on her cheek that he said was “most likely” caused by fingernails. The scar, described as “hyper-sensitive,” has remained a source of lasting discomfort, according to Ellis.
Ellis is suing Cardi B on multiple counts, including assault, battery, negligence, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Her lawsuit alleges that the encounter left both physical and emotional scars.
Cardi B’s legal team argued that Ellis’s story has changed over time and emphasized that the rapper’s behavior was motivated by concern for her unborn child. Her lawyer told the court that Cardi B felt threatened by the unwanted pursuit and reacted only to protect her privacy and safety.
The case continues as both sides present conflicting accounts of what happened outside the medical office six years ago. Cardi B, who rose to fame with her hit single Bodak Yellow, has faced legal challenges before but has maintained that this confrontation never escalated beyond words.