Cardi B has denied having ever laid her hands on Emani Ellis, who has brought a civil assault case against the rapper. When reporters asked her about the incident as she arrived at the courthouse on Tuesday, she said she "never" touched Ellis, according to Rolling Stone's Nancy Dillon. She is expected to testify in the case at some point today.
The trial began on Monday with Ellis testifying that Cardi assaulted her while she was working as a security guard at a medical office in Beverly Hills back in 2018. She says she was conducting her routine rounds when she spotted Cardi and remarked, "Wow, that’s Cardi B." The acknowledgment allegedly sent Cardi into a fury, as she had yet to publicly announce her first pregnancy with Offset at the time.
In his opening statement, Cardi's lawyer, Peter Anderson, provided a different perspective. He said that Ellis was filming her and acting “belligerent.” In turn, Cardi feared for the safety of her and Offset's unborn child. “Cardi B was facing someone, with all respect, who testified she was 240-250 pounds, wearing black military boots, hovering over her, yelling and screaming at her, taking swings at her, trying to get to her,” he further said. “There will be evidence that it was [Ellis] who yelled, ‘I will f*ck your sh*t up.’ That’s when someone intervened and dragged [Ellis] to an elevator and said, ‘You have to leave.'”
Cardi B "Am I the Drama?" Release Date
The trial's start comes just weeks before Cardi B will finally be releasing her long-awaited sophomore album, Am I the Drama?. Fans will be able to listen to the project in full on September 19. Cardi's already released multiple singles from the album, including "Outside," as well as "Imaginary Playerz."
Speaking with Zane Lowe during a recent interview for Apple Music 1, she revealed that her tension with other artists served as an inspiration for the album title. “It’s like, ‘Damn, does drama chase me? Or am I the drama?'” she told Lowe, as caught by Billboard. “I just really think I was born with an anointed light. Sometimes the light is great, but it also disturbs people’s peace. It draws people to me, and it’s not always going to be good. That light might bother people … maybe it’s too bright, it’s too loud. It’s always been like this to me.”
