A jury promptly awarded Cardi B a decisive victory on Tuesday in a lawsuit involving a security guard’s claims that the rap star assaulted her during a visit to a doctor’s office while she was pregnant for the first time.
The jury at a small courthouse in Alhambra, California, deliberated for only about an hour before determining Cardi was not liable in the lawsuit brought by Emani Ellis. Ellis alleged Cardi injured her face with a fingernail and spat on her in a Beverly Hills obstetrician’s hallway in February 2018.
Cardi explained that her pregnancy was a closely held secret at that time, and she worried Ellis might reveal it. She admitted they argued but insisted it never turned physical.
Her testimony, delivered over two days last week, was streamed live and attracted wide viewership. After a break of several days, the trial continued with closing arguments on Tuesday, and the jury received the case by mid-afternoon.
PG/Bauer-Griffin 
Cardi shared that she was in Los Angeles in February 2018 for promotional work coinciding with that year’s NBA All-Star Game. She had been four months pregnant with her first child with rapper Offset. At that stage, she had only confided in her inner circle about her pregnancy, keeping it a secret from the public and even her parents.
The obstetrician’s office had been closed to other patients on a Saturday for her privacy.
She testified that Ellis, who worked as a security guard in the building, trailed her to her fifth-floor appointment. Cardi recounted that she overheard Ellis mentioning her name into a phone and seemed to be capturing video of her.
“I told her, ‘Why are you recording?'” Cardi testified, “and she said, ‘Oh my bad.’ She practically apologized.”
But the argument grew increasingly heated, she said.
“As we were arguing she’s backing me, she’s walking into me,” Cardi said.
Ellis testified that the incident left her humiliated and traumatized, and the scar on her face required cosmetic surgery. Ellis, who lost her job over the incident, sought damages that include medical expenses, compensation for emotional and physical suffering, and lost wages, along with punitive damages. She does not specify a total amount in the lawsuit, but Cardi said from the stand that she is “suing me for $24 million.”
A receptionist who broke up the argument between Cardi and Ellis largely backed the rapper’s account in testimony.
