Cardi B has won again against a security guard who claimed the superstar scratched her face outside of a doctor’s office in Beverly Hills in 2018 — and the Grammy-winning rapper didn’t even need to do anything this time.
According to court documents obtained by Complex, Los Angeles County Judge Ian Fusselman denied plaintiff Emani Ellis’ request for a new trial on Dec. 5, because there’s no basis to overturn the previous unanimous ruling.
Judge Fusselman dismissed Ellis’ claim that jurors were intimidated by the rapper after she threw a pen to the ground when a YouTuber asked her about her pregnancy outside of the courthouse. In a video of the situation, Cardi demanded that vlogger Donat Ricketts “stop disrespecting me.”
At the time, Cardi was secretly pregnant — she hadn’t announced it yet. She’d go on to tell the world about it on Sept. 17.
At Friday’s hearing, Judge Fusselman read a sworn declaration from Ricketts, who said that the pen Cardi threw bounced and hit him. Afterward, Rickett told a juror who approached him that he didn’t plan to sue Cardi.
In filings opposing Ellis’ motion for a new trial, Cardi’s legal team alleged that the pen didn’t hit anyone, and any suggestion that jurors were possibly intimidated was hearsay. The judge agreed.
“We’re speculating about how it impacted them,” said the judge. “Wouldn’t that tend to help your case, rather than hurt it? Isn’t that why you wanted the jury to find out about it? You came into court and said, ‘I want the jury to know this just happened.’”
Judge Fusselman also said that the verdict that jurors gave was based on evidence that they paid close attention to during the trial.
“They were free to ask any questions or make any comments, and they didn’t,” he said. “I don’t find that anything outside the courtroom had any impact on the jury’s deliberations.”
On Sept. 2, it only took jurors an hour to determine that Cardi didn’t assault Ellis. After the verdict was read, Cardi reiterated her claim that she never harmed her.
“I swear to God I will say it in my deathbed: I did not touch that woman. I did not touch that girl, I didn’t lay my hands on that girl,” said Cardi. “With that being said, this time around, I’m gonna be nice. The next person to try to do a frivolous lawsuit against me, I’m going to countersue, and I’m gonna make you pay because this is not OK.”
