Cardi B has been cleared of assault after she was sued for $24million over an alleged 2018 altercation.

At 32, the rapper beamed triumphantly as she left the Los Angeles courthouse on Tuesday, celebrating a unanimous jury verdict clearing her of assaulting a female security guard at an OB-GYN clinic.

Known by her real name, Belcalis Almánzar, the musician found herself in legal trouble when security guard Emani Ellis allegedly recorded her during a visit to the doctor’s office.

Cardi faced allegations of attacking, hitting, and spitting on Ellis, including accusations of cutting her face with a long fingernail, leading to Ellis filing a lawsuit against the rapper in 2020.

The jury, composed evenly of six men and six women, seemed decisive, taking only about an hour to reach their decision, as reported by Rolling Stone.

They reportedly began deliberating around 2:15 p.m. PT, before sharing via a note that they had reached a verdict at 3:15.

Notably, it would have only required nine members of the jury to vote in Cardi’s favor, though all 12 were swayed. 

After the ruling, Cardi expressed to reporters the difficulty of managing the legal proceedings while also trying to promote her upcoming album, “Am I the Drama?”, set to release on September 19.

She also gave a glimpse into how the trial cost her important time with her children, as Tuesday marked their first day school.

‘The next person to try to do a frivolous lawsuit against me, I’m going to counter sue and I’m going to make you pay, because this is not OK,’ she said.

‘People have this misinterpretation of celebrities, like, “Oh, well, we can ask for this, and they’re going to settle…” Don’t you ever think that you’re going to sue me and I’m just going to settle and just give you my money. It’s not going to happen,’ she added defiantly.

Cardi also again claimed that she was innocent despite the claim against her.

‘I’m not even playing around. Even if I’m at my death bed, I swear to God, I will say it at my death bed — I did not touch that woman,’ she claimed.

Ellis also spoke with reporters after losing her lawsuit.

‘I don’t think that it reflects the truth, but I’m not disappointed,’ she said of the verdict. ‘We know that the justice system is sometimes flawed, and unfortunately that was the case for me.’

She said that the case had been ‘about accountability,’ and Ellis added, ‘I had my day in court, I showed up, I held my head high.’

Tensions ran high during the star’s viral civil assault trial, with the Bodak Yellow hitmaker — who is now dating NFL player Stefon Diggs — throwing a pen at a reporter who asked if she was pregnant outside an LA courthouse just before the verdict was reached.

She told reporters outside of court after the verdict was reached: ‘I’m not even playing around. Even if I’m at my death bed, I swear to God, I will say it at my death bed — I did not touch that woman.’ 

Cardi had earlier launched into a rant amid wild speculation that she is currently expecting her fourth baby by her ex-husband Offset.

‘That’s for disrespecting me. Don’t disrespect me,’ Cardi fumed as her bodyguard steered her away towards her waiting car, in video obtained by the Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail has contacted Cardi’s representative for comment.

‘You’re disrespectful,’ Cardi snapped at the man when he continued to speak to her as she approached her vehicle. ‘Don’t do that. Do you see women asking those type of questions to me? Do you see women asking those questions to me?’

She added: ‘Why do you feel, as a man, you get to ask me those type of questions? Act like you have some manners and your mama taught you: “Respect women.”’

Cardi’s attorney Peter Anderson presented his closing argument that day, accusing Ellis of having gone ‘berserk’ during the 2018 encounter.

‘Plaintiff advanced on Cardi, screaming and yelling, forcing Cardi backwards,’ said Anderson, via Rolling Stone.

He claimed Ellis was a Cardi fan who knew the celebrity was meant to stop by the obstetrician’s office that day, supposedly suggesting ‘that she was actually lying in wait. She wanted to photograph and videotape Cardi.’ 

Anderson said also: ‘She did not know if the scratch that supposedly ruined her life was even bleeding. What did she do? She claims that Cardi mauled her, basically, cut her face, and what did she do? She went home and took a nap. That was her own testimony.’

He insisted that his client ‘did not do anything wrong, except try to protect her baby and get to a doctor.’ 

‘Arguing, yelling, even using profanity, is not something you can sue over,’ he added. ‘That’s just part of normal life.’

Meanwhile Ellis’ counsel Ron Rosen Janfaza said in his closing arguments that his client was ‘abused. She was harmed. She was assaulted and battered by Cardi B, and Cardi B needs to pay for that.’

The WAP rapper has gone viral for her charismatic performance on the stand during her trial, making sarcastic faces and responding to questions with blunt comebacks.

Cardi testified that she was walking through a Beverly Hills obstetrician’s office during the fourth month of her first pregnancy when Ellis, who worked at the building, began following her and recording her on a cellphone.

The hitmaker denied that things between them got physical, but admitted she called Ellis a ‘b***h’ while confronting her.

As the trial continues to play out, moments of Cardi on trial have gone viral on social media of her sassy responses, ‘sarcastic’ facial expressions and even making the courtroom laugh on multiple occasions.

Fans watching the trial on social media were left in hysterics over her ‘careless’ attitude on the stand, with some even comparing the ‘hilarious’ trial to a reality show. 

Fans joked on Instagram: ‘I’m deceased Cardi I love you’, ‘She’s absolutely hilarious! She’s smart, very well understands the game and could care less!’

‘The lawyer trying to be sarcastic but she IS sarcasm’, ‘She’s everything on the stand.’

‘The lawyer thought he could beat Cardi with his sarcastic words, but baby, Cardi eats sarcasm everyday.’

‘Omg love her’, ‘CARDI ATE HIM TF UP’, ‘She deserves a show. Love her’, ‘I will watch 3 seasons of this.’

One clip that has gone viral of Cardi on the stand is when she’s asked to confirm whether her hair is real or a wig.

The rapper took to the stand on Tuesday with a blonde wig, a drastic change to her jet black pixie cut she sported the day prior. 

‘Yesterday you had black hair, short hair. Today it’s blond and long. Which one is your real hair? Or are they both real?’, the lawyer asked during his cross-examination of the Grammy-winner. 

Taken aback by the attorney’s bizarre question, Cardi laughed and responded, ‘They’re wigs.’

‘OK. Sorry, I didn’t know that. It’s a good wig today, then’, the lawyer replied.

In a light-hearted moment after the verdict was read, Cardi referenced the exchange and the interest in her hairstyles while speaking with reporters.

‘I’m telling you guys, when I say that my forehead is raw from changing all these wigs — raw. Raw, raw, raw,’ she joked to the crowd.

Cardi’s witty personality sparked the entire courtroom to laugh on multiple occasions as she took to the stand. 

During her testimony, Cardi was repeatedly asked to reveal if she was disabled at the time of the altercation.

‘Are you disabled, yes or no?’, an attorney asked her.

Sparking a flurry of laughs from the court, Cardi said: ‘At the moment, when you’re pregnant, I’m very disabled. You want me to tell you things I can’t do?’

She added: ‘I couldn’t protect myself even if I wanted to, she’s like twice my size.’

Cardi’s ‘blunt’ and ‘hilarious’ facial expressions also left fans in stitches as they watched the trail play out on social media. 

‘Did you say she’s bigger than you?’, the attorney asked.

‘Absolutely… I mean look [Cardi pointed to her eyes and then towards the security guard].’

The attorney continued: ‘Are you saying she’s physically bigger? Taller?’

Cardi said: ‘I mean you have her medical records, right?’

‘I don’t have anything I’m the one asking you the questions’, the attorney said.

Cardi said: ‘I mean, I was 130 pounds at that time’, which led the attorney to add: ‘So she’s overweight, right? In your opinion’. 

As the judge overrides her to respond, Cardi adds: ‘She’s a little… [proceeds to shrug he shoulders].’

‘Did you make fun of her that she was overweight when you were there in the hallway?’, the attorney continued.

Cardi blunted put: ‘I don’t think so… No, I was calling her a b****’

Cardi’s sarcastic facial expressions and lovable sassy responses sparked a tense exchange with the defense attorney at many points in the trial this week.

At one point, her blunt and to the point attitude forced the defense lawyer to snap back, leaving Cardi giggling and stunned to speak.

‘I don’t think I was like on a high level of angry, I was more on a high level of concern, very concerned’, Cardi calmly stated.

‘And why were you concerned?’, an attorney asked her.

Cardi said: ‘Because I’m pregnant and this girl is about to f****** beat my ass. Hello?’

‘Hello. Hello, I’m here’, the attorney snapped back.

The mom-of-three arrived to court in a two-piece grey tweed suit with a fringe, and voluminous blonde curls. 

It was a stark difference from Ellis’ account on Monday. She testified that Cardi took a ‘swing’ at her, spit on her, and cut her cheek with her long fingernail. 

Ellis also accused Cardi, who called her ‘big’ during her testimony, of ‘body-shaming’ her.

During Cardi’s testimony on Tuesday, which was streamed on Court TV,  an attorney asked her: ‘Did you try to take a swing at her [Ellis]?’ ‘No,’ Cardi responded.

Cardi insisted the two had a ‘verbal fight’ but that it ‘didn’t get physical at all.’ 

Cardi said that Ellis was coming in as she was leaving and that she could hear her talking on the phone and saying, ‘Oh my God, y’all. Cardi B is here.’ 

‘So I kind of speed walk, but I feel her behind me,’ Cardi recalled, saying she then confronted Ellis, asking, ‘Yo, why are you recording me?’ 

‘And she clearly looked like the security, she’s uniformed down. I’m like why are you recording me, ain’t you security? And she’s like, “Oh, my bad.”‘

Cardi said she started walking again, but continued to sense Ellis behind her.

‘I turn around again and I’m like “Why are you following me?” She’s like “‘Cause I can.” ‘It’s like, no you can’t. Ain’t you supposed to be security?’ Cardi asked again.

Cardi said the security guard continued to get ‘closer and closer’ and that the two began arguing. Cardi then accused Ellis of invading her privacy.

‘Now we’re like chest to chest practically, so I keep telling her like you need to back up. I’m thinking to myself “this girl is big. She’s big,”‘ Cardi said while laughing.

Cardi said the two continued ‘arguing’ and ‘cursing at each other’ before admitting, ‘I did call her the B word. I did call her a b***h.’

‘I did say b***h get the f**k out of my face. You’re in my face. You’re screaming in my face.’

Cardi continued: ‘She kept telling me “You’re gonna leave my building.” I’m like, “I’m not leaving. How are you telling me to leave? I came to see a doctor. You’re following me, you’re recording me. I’m just trying to check my cat. You’re recording me.’

Cardi claimed at some point the receptionist came out, and Ellis began claiming that Cardi ‘hit’ her.

‘I’m like, I did not hit her. I’m looking at her like, girl, I can’t even hit you if I want to, you’re bigger than me.’

Cardi claimed the doctor then proceeded to come out and asked her to go to his office, after which she just ‘walked away.’

Cardi admitted she did not see proof of the alleged video recording.

While explaining the nature of the incident, Cardi stated, ‘She didn’t hit me, I didn’t hit her. There was no touch. So to me, it wasn’t no incident.’

‘Was there spitting?’ one of the attorney’s asked.

‘Absolutely not,’ she replied.

‘Did you spit on Miss Ellis?’

‘No,’ the musician insisted.

‘Did you call her the N word?’

‘No,’ Cardi replied.

The day prior, it was Ellis who testified, as she recalled the alleged verbal jabs Cardi took at her, and described how the rapper was ‘sticking her tongue out and flailing her arms up and down, jumping up and down.’

She also said Cardi was ‘body shaming’ her and using ‘racial slurs.’ Ellis was then asked if Cardi spit on her, to which she replied, ‘She did.’

Cardi was present inside the courtroom as Ellis testified, sporting a short hairdo and a black blazer. 

In court documents obtained by TMZ in 2020, it was alleged that the rapper maliciously struck Ellis in the head, face, and body.

In addition Ellis, who says she is African-American, claims Cardi spit on her in addition to using profanities and racial slurs.

The alleged encounter happened at a medical building as Cardi had just left an appointment while pregnant with first child, Kulture, at the time and had not yet announced her pregnancy publicly. 

According to eyewitnesses from TMZ the security guard approached the star trying to record videos or take photos of her when the Bodak Yellow hitmaker asked her to stop as she did not want to be recorded in a doctor’s office.

The bystanders said the security guard got upset as they proceeded to get into an argument and that a building staffer separated the star and security guard and things never escalated physical nor were there any racial slurs.

The lawsuit documents also state that Cardi ‘then used her celebrity status to get [Ellis] fired from her job as a security guard.’

However a representative for the medical building told TMZ that the rapper’s doctor and patient coordinator were responsible for having the security guard terminated as they both felt like the guard had violated Cardi’s privacy as the information was released with the rapper’s permission.

Ellis had sued the I Like It hitmaker for assault, battery, and infliction of emotional distress.

Cardi is no stranger to controversy as she was charged with two felony counts of assault for allegedly attacking two bartenders in two separate incidents at Angel’s Strip Club in Flushing, Queens, in August on 2019.

Prosecutors say the victims, who are sisters, were targeted because the rapper believed one of them was having an affair with her now ex-husband, Offset.

Cardi agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges of third-degree assault and reckless endangerment, and received 15 days of community service in September 2022. 

Cardi was also sued for assault and battery after an incident where she threw a microphone into the crowd, hitting a woman during a 2023 show in Las Vegas.