Dec. 20, 2025

The Top 10 Crime and Justice Stories Of The Year - #4 - "THEY'RE WIGS: HOW CARDI B TURNED A $24 MILLION LAWSUIT INTO VIRAL COMEDY

Show Notes
Transcript

Reid Carter counts down #4 on the Top 10 Crime and Justice Stories of 2025: Cardi B's viral courtroom victory. Security guard Emani Ellis sued for $24 million claiming the rapper scratched her face with a three-inch fingernail and spat on her at a Beverly Hills doctor's office in 2018. Seven years later, trial goes viral. Cardi's testimony spawns memes—confused lawyer asks about her changing hair, she laughs: "They're wigs." Jury deliberates one hour. Unanimous verdict: not liable. Outside court, Cardi warns future accusers: "I'm not that celeb you sue thinking I'm gonna settle." Ellis denied new trial in December.

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Callaroga Shark Media, Good morning, I'm Red Carter. Saturday, December twentieth,

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twenty twenty five, We're counting down the top ten crime

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and justice stories of twenty twenty five. Today number four.

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August twenty twenty five, Alhambra, California, small courthouse outside Los Angeles,

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a civil trial that should have been routine becomes the

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biggest viral courtroom moment since Johnny deppen Amber heard on

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the witness stand. Cardi b Grammy winning rapper, chart topping artist,

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mother of three, facing a twenty four million dollar lawsuit

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from a security guard who claims Carti scratched her face

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with a three inch fingernail and spat on her seven

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years ago. Plaintiff's attorney Ron Rosen, is cross examining. He

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notices something. Yesterday Carti had short, black hair, Today it's

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long and blonde. He's confused. Yesterday you had black hair,

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short hair, today it's blonde and long. Which one is

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your real hair or are they both real? Cardi laughs, pauses,

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looks at him like he's from another planet, their wigs.

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The courtroom erupts, jurors smile. Social media explodes within hours.

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The clip has millions of views, memes flood, TikTok, Instagram

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x their wigs becomes the catchphrase of the summer. But

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behind the viral moments was a serious case. Emani Ellis,

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former security guard, claimed Cardi B physically attacked her in

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a Beverly Hills doctor's office in February twenty eighteen, while

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Carti was secretly pregnant with her first child. Ellis said

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she was left with a facial scar requiring plastic surgery,

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lost her job, suffered emotional trauma, wanted twenty four million

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dollars in damages. Cardi said it never happened, said they

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argued loudly, profanely, but she never touched The woman said

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Ellis was courting her, violating her privacy, and she confronted

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her about it. Verbal altercation, nothing physical. Seven years, twenty

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four million dollars, and a jury that deliberated for exactly

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one hour before clearing Cardi B of all liability. I'm

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Red Carter today, number four on our countdown. The trial

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that turned into a social media spectacle, the security guard

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who gambled and lost, and the rapper who proved you

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can be unapologetically yourself even on a witness stand This

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is Celebrity Trials. February twenty fourth, twenty eighteen, Beverly Hills, California.

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A Saturday afternoon, Cardi B real name Belcalis Marlenas Almanzar

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arrives at a medical building for a private appointment with

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her obstetrician, doctor David Finke. She's approximately four months pregnant

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with her first child, a daughter she'll name Culture. The

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pregnancy is a secret she had hasn't told her parents,

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hasn't told the public, hasn't even told most of her

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inner circle. This is important context. Cardi B was at

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the peak of her meteoric rise. Bodak Yellow had made

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her a household name. She was in Los Angeles for

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promotional work around NBA All Star Weekend. Every paparazzo, every

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gossip blogger, every tabloid was hunting for the next big

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Cardi B story, and being photographed at an obstetrician's office

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while visibly pregnant that would blow her secret wide open.

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Doctor Fink's office had closed early that Saturday, just for her,

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no other patients. Complete privacy, or so she thought. Amani

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Ellis was working security in the building, twenty four years old,

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had been at the job for four years, clean record,

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licensed by the state of California. According to Ellis's testimony,

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seven years later, she was doing her routine rounds when

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she saw Cardi B exit the elevator on the fifth floor.

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She exclaimed, and allegedly to no one in particular, Wow,

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that's Cardi B. What happened next depends on who you

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believe Ellis's version. Cardi B heard her name, turned around,

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got in Ellis's face, accused her of telling people she

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was there, started screaming obscenities. Why the fact are you

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telling people that you see me? Ellis tried to calm

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her down, assured her she hadn't told anyone, but Carti

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was already enraged. Ellis claimed Cardi jabbed a finger in

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her face, called her a fat ass bitch, mocked her job,

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threatened to get her fired, then physically attacked her, swinging

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at her, using a long acrylic fingernail to slice open

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her left cheek, spitting on her. Ellis said the wound

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required plastic surgery. Said she was humiliated, traumatized, eventually fired

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from her job, officially for a hip of violation, but

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she believed it was because of Carti's threats. She wanted

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compensation for medical bills, emotional distress, lost wages, and punitive

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damages twenty four million dollars total. Carti's version completely different.

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She testified that Ellis followed her down the hallway toward

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doctor Fink's office, that Ellis had her phone out and

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appeared to be recording, that Carti confronted her, Yes, with profanity, Yes, aggressively,

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but never physically. I told her, why are you recording?

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Carti testified, and she said, oh my bad. She practically apologized,

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but the argument escalated, both women screaming, getting closer. Carty

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admitted they were chest to chest at one point, but

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she insisted no physical contact, no scratching, no spitting, no assault.

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I didn't hit her, she didn't hit me. There was

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no touch, so to me, there was no incident. Carti

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explained she was terrified she was pregnant, secretly pregnant, and

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this larger woman was backing her into a corner. She

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described herself as disabled due to her pregnancy, weighing only

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one hundred thirty pounds, unable to fight back even if

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she wanted to. I'm pregnant. This girl's about to beat

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my ass Hello. That line went viral too. The confrontation

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ended when doctor Fink's receptionist, Tierra Malcolm, came out and

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physically got between the women. Then doctor Finke himself emerged,

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told Ellis to stop and do your job, and escorted

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Carti into his office. No police were called, no incident

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report filed that day, no photographs of any injuries, no

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surveillance footage from that specific hallway, just two women with

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completely different accounts of what happened. Ellis didn't sue immediately.

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She filed her lawsuit in twenty twenty, two years after

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the incident. By then, Cardi b was even more famous,

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even more wealthy, and even bigger target. The lawsuit alleged assault, battery,

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intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and false imprisonment twenty

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four million dollars, and it took seven years to get

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to trial. Make it make sense. August twenty sixth, twenty

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twenty five, the civil trial begins in Alhambra, California, at

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a small courthouse near Los Angeles. Emmanny Ellis takes the

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stand first. Now thirty two years old, no longer working security,

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she'd pivoted to a career as a social worker helping

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low income families access resources, but she wanted her day

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in court. Ellis described the twenty eighteen incident in detail,

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the verbal abuse, the physical attack, the fingernail slicing her cheek,

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the spit, the threats. She testified that she was deeply traumatized,

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that the scar on her face required cosmetic surgery, that

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she lost her career in security because of what Cardi

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B did. Her attorney, Ron Rosen Janfaza argue that just

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because Cardi B is a celebrity doesn't mean she can

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just say and do whatever she wants and attack people.

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Then Cardi B took the stand and everything changed. From

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the moment she started testifying, the trial became must see television.

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Court TV live streamed it, clips flooded social media. Within hours,

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Cardi B's courtroom testimony was trending worldwide. It wasn't just

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what she said, it was how she said it. The

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facial expressions, the eye rolls, the bemused looks at opposing council,

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the complete refusal to be anything other than herself, even

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under oath, even facing a twenty four million dollar judgment.

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When Rosen asked how she knew Ellis was bigger than her.

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Carti pointed at her own eyes as if to say,

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I used these, then flipped her hair over her shoulder

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and declared she was one hundred thirty pounds at that time.

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When Rosen suggested she was physically capable of attacking Ellis

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despite being pregnant, Cardi shot back, I'm pregnant. This girl's

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about to beat my ass. Hello. When Rosen asked about

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her nails, whether they could have caused the scratch Elice described,

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Carti explained they were coffin style acrylics with flat rhinestones,

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not sharp, not dangerous. She couldn't get a scratch from

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me because I didn't touch her. And then came the

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wig moment. Rosen, apparently unaware of how wigs work, noticed

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Carti's hair had changed dramatically between court days. Short black

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bob one day, long, platinum blonde waves the next. He

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thought he'd caught her in some kind of inconsistency. Yesterday

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you had black hair, short hair, today it's blonde and long.

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Which one is your real hair? Or are they both real?

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Carti laughed. The whole courtroom could see she was genuinely

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amused their wigs. Rosen paused, Okay, I didn't know that

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it's a good wig today. Then the jurors smiled, some laughed.

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Social media went nuclear, but Carti wasn't just entertaining, she

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was effective. She maintained her story consistently. She acknowledged the

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verbal confrontation but firmly denied any physical contact. She explained

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her state of mind secretly pregnant, terrified of exposure, confronting

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someone she believed was violating her privacy, and she had

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witnesses backing her up. Doctor David Fink testified that he

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heard yelling and came out of his office to intervene.

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He saw his receptionists standing between Ellis and Carti. He

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told Ellis to stop and do your job, but crucially,

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he never saw Carti assault. Ellis never saw any physical contact.

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Tierra Malcolm, the receptionist, testified similarly. She heard the argument,

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she stepped between the women to break it up, but

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she didn't witness a physical altercation, and she revealed something else.

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A few months after the incident, Ellis called her asking

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if she would help with an employment claim. Ellis was

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already thinking about lawsuits. The defense also highlighted inconsistencies in

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Ellis's accounts what she told her manager at the time

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versus what she testified in court, the lack of any

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photographs of her injuries from that day, the lack of

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any contemporaneous documentation. Closing arguments came on September second. Rosen

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told the jury that Ellis deserved compensation, that the incident

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report and testimony proved assault and battery, that Cartie's use

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of profanity in court showed scorn for the proceedings. He

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criticized her for cursing on the stand. The defendant came here,

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used all of this foul language. This is a court

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of law. You cannot speak this way in court. I

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have never seen this before. Many observers felt that argument backfired,

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criticizing how Cardi spoke felt like tone policing, like attacking

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her for being authentic, rather than addressing the actual evidence.

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Carti's attorney, Peter Anderson, kept it simple, arguing, yelling, even

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using profanity, is not something you can sue over. That's

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just part of normal life. Ellis failed to prove physical contact,

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failed to prove assault, failed to prove her case. The jury,

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six men, six women, got the case at two fifteen pm.

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At three point fifteen pm, they sent a note they

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had a verdict one hour unanimous, not liable on all counts.

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Cardi b made the sign of the cross, exhaled seven

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years of this lawsuit finally over. Outside the courthouse, she

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addressed reporters, thanked her lawyers, thanked the jurors, then delivered

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a warning to anyone else thinking about suing her. The

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next person who tries to do a frivolous lawsuit against me,

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I'm going to counter sue and I'm going to make

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you pay, because this is not okay. I am not

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that celeb that you sue and you is going to settle.

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I'm not going to settle. She complained about missing her

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kid's first day of school for the trial, joked that

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her forehead was raw, raw, raw from changing wigs every day,

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posed for pictures with fans, then she went back to work.

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Her album am I The Drama dropped September nineteenth. She

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even released special court Room edition CD covers featuring her

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viral moments and daily hairstyles from the trial. Amany Ellis

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spoke to reporters too, said she didn't regret bringing the case,

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didn't think the verdict reflected the truth, but she held

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her head high. I had my day in court. I

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showed up. She filed a motion for a new trial

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in December, argued that Carti's star witnesses should have been

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barred for late disclosure. Argued that jurors were intimidated by

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Carti after she threw a pen outside the courthouse when

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a reporter asked inappropriate questions about her rumored pregnancy. Judge

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Ian Fusselman denied it, said the jurors paid close attention

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and returned a verdict based on evidence. Said nothing outside

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the courtroom impacted deliberations. Case closed. Cardi B wins again.

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This wasn't Cardi B's first legal rodeo, and it probably

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won't be her last. September twenty twenty two, three years

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before the Ellis trial, Carti pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault

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and reckless endangerment for a completely different incident. August twenty

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eighteen Queen's New York Angels Gentlemen's Club, a strip club

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in Flushing. Carti allegedly orchestrated an attack on two sisters

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who worked as bartenders, one of them she believed was

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having an affair with her husband, rapper offset. Carti admitted

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in court to offering five thousand dollars to a friend

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to beat up one of the women admitted to throwing

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glass bottles in their direction herself. That case was resulted

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in fifteen days of community service and three year protection

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orders for the victims, no jail time. Carti released a statement,

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part of growing up and maturing is being accountable for

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your actions as a mother. It's a practice that I

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am trying to instill in my children, but the example

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starts with me. So here's the question everyone was asking

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during the Ellis trial. If Carti admitted to throwing bottles

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at bartenders and queens, why should we believe she didn't

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attack a security guard in Beverly Hills. The answer came

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down to evidence. In the queen's case, there was surveillance video,

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multiple witnesses. Carti eventually admitted what she did. The evidence

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was overwhelming. In the l's case, there was nothing, no video,

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no photographs of injuries taken that day, no contemporaneous incident report,

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no witnesses who saw physical contact. Just two women with

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contradictory stories, seven years of fated memories and a jury

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that had to decide who to believe. The jury believed Cardi.

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Maybe it was the witnesses. Doctor Finkey and his receptionist

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both testified they never saw an assault. That's powerful corroboration.

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Maybe it was the lack of evidence. If Ellis's face

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was really slashed by a three inch fingernail, where are

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the photos? Why no police report? Why wait two years

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to sue? Maybe it was Cardi herself. Say what you

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want about her courtroom demeanor, the profanity, the eye rolls,

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the whig jokes, but she was consistent. She never wavered.

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She admitted the verbal confrontation but denied the physical assault,

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and she stuck to that story under cross examination. Or

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maybe it was just celebrity justice, the cynical take. Rich

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and famous people can afford better lawyers, better experts, better everything.

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They can outlast lawsuits that would crush ordinary defendants. They

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can turn trials into pr opportunities. Ellis certainly felt that way.

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We know that the justice system is sometimes flawed, she

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told reporters after the verdict. And unfortunately that was the

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case for me. But here's what's interesting. Cardi b has

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lost cases before. In twenty twenty two, she won a

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four million dollar defamation verdict against celebrity gossip vlogger Tasha Kay,

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who spread false rumors about her that took years of

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litigation and a federal jury trial. Carti fought it because

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she believed she was right, not because she was guaranteed

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to win. She's also been sued for allegedly throwing a

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microphone at a fan during a twenty twenty three Las

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Vegas concert for allegedly using part of a man's back

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tattoo on a mixtape cover. For all kinds of things

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that come with being one of the most famous entertainers

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on the planet. Some cases she wins, some she settles,

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some get dismissed. But she doesn't just write checks to

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make problems go away. She fights. I work all day,

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and I work hard for my money, for my kids,

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for the people that I take care of, she said

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after the Ellis verdict. So don't you ever think that

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you're going to sue me and I'm just going to settle.

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That's the lesson of Cardi b versus Emanny Ellis, not

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that celebrities always win, not that the justice system is rigged,

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but that evidence matters, witnesses matter, and sometimes Authenticity on

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the stand matters more than polished performance. Cardi B didn't

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pretend to be someone she wasn't in that courtroom. She cursed,

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she made faces, she changed wigs. She was exactly who

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she's always been, the girl from the Bronx who became

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a superstar without ever losing her edge, and the jury

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believed her. Your tax dollars at work. That's number four

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on our countdown of the top ten crime and justice

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stories of twenty twenty five. Cardi B e versus Emani

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Ellis a twenty four million dollar lawsuit over an alleged

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assault at a Beverly Hills doctor's office in twenty eighteen.

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Seven years of litigation, a trial that went viral for

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all the wrong reasons and all the right ones. Their

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wigs two words that launched a thousand memes. But behind

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the viral moments was a real case with real stakes.

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Ellis claimed she was physically attacked. Carti claimed it never happened.

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The jury sided with Carty. In about an hour December

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twenty twenty five, Judge Fusselman denied Ellis's motion for a

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new trial. Case officially closed, Cardi B walks away with

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another legal victory. But the bigger story is what this

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trial revealed about celebrity justice and authenticity. Cardi b could

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have hired crisis consultants, could have scripted her testimony, could

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have worn conservative suits and spoken in measured tones. In Instead,

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she was herself and it worked. Not because she's famous,

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but because the evidence supported her, because her witnesses backed

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her up, because the jury found her credible. Profanity and

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all Tomorrow number three on our countdown, the Hollywood battle

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that made this year's biggest Summer blockbuster unwatchable. Justin Baldoni

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versus Blake Lively, dueling lawsuits, sexual harassment allegations, and a

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digital smear campaign that's redefining celebrity warfare in the social

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media age. I'm read Carter, see you tomorrow for number three.

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This is celebrity trials