Cardi B appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom as the second day of the trial over Emani Ellis' civil assault lawsuit got underway.
On Monday, August 25, the New York native sat in the defendant's chair while Ellis testified about her alleged encounter with the mother of three. Ellis used to work as a security guard at an obstetrician's office in Beverly Hills. She crossed paths with Cardi when the rapper went to the OB for an appointment in 2018, when she was four months pregnant. Ellis recalled how she noticed the "Outside" artist and said, "Wow, that's Cardi B." That's when all hell broke loose.
According to Ellis, Cardi allegedly walked up to her and claimed she was using her phone to tell people about her medical appointment. Ellis told the court that Cardi called her all kinds of derogatory names, hurled racial slurs at her, made fun of her weight, and allegedly tried to punch her. In the lawsuit, Ellis claimed Cardi hit her head, face, and body. During her testimony, Ellis alleged that Cardi used a long fingernail to slash her left cheek.
At one point during the altercation, Ellis claimed Cardi "used her celebrity status to get [Ellis] fired from her job as a security guard," per TMZ. During her testimony, Ellis retracted the plot against her job after she said that she was fired due to a HIPAA violation. That lines up with a statement from a rep for the medical building where the OB's office is located, who said Cardi's doctor and patient coordinator pushed to fire Ellis because they felt she violated the rapper's privacy.
Cardi B denied the allegations from the beginning. When she arrived at the courthouse for day two of the trial, Cardi said the entire lawsuit is "absolutely" a shake-down for money and said she "never" touched Ellis. Several witnesses also negated the former security guard's story at the time. In 2020, witnesses told TMZ that Ellis got upset after Cardi asked her not to take photos of her after the expecting mother, who was pregnant with Kulture at the time, left her appointment. Ellis and Cardi reportedly got into an argument that prompted a staffer from the building to come and split them up. However, witnesses say the situation didn't turn violent and Cardi didn't use any racial slurs.
Watch the second day of trial below.