Cardi B asked a judge to ban any talk of her past as an exotic dancer or any alleged incidents involving drugs as part of an upcoming court trial, In Touch can exclusively report.
Cardi, 32, and a female security guard named Emani Ellis are in the middle of an ugly court war. The trial is scheduled to begin on May 12.
Emani sued the entertainer in 2020 over an alleged incident at a medical office in Beverly Hills.
The alleged incident took place on February 24, 2018. In her lawsuit, Emani claimed she walked up to Cardi, which allegedly led to the rapper striking her in the face, head and body.
Cardi B
She claimed Cardi used her “long fingernails and sharp objects” to cause an injury on her face. Emani claimed Cardi also spit on her and used “multiple profanities and racial slurs against [Ellis] who is African American.”
The security guard claimed Cardi and her team called her bosses, and used her “celebrity status” to get her fired from her job at the medical building. Emani’s lawsuit demanded unspecified damages.
Cardi denied all allegations of wrongdoing or that she ever touched Emani. She said any actions on her part were done in self-defense.
Advertisement
In her recent filing, Cardi demanded the court not allow certain topics from being discussed in front of the jury at the trial.
Cardi said the jury should not hear about alleged altercations between her and third parties not associated with the case, any criminal charges or police reports filed against her, incidents in which she uttered obscenities, either in her music or at others or police investigations concerning her.
In addition, Cardi said the jury should not hear about any alleged incidents involving her and drugs or drug use, her past as an exotic dancer or any former association with a gang or gang members during her youth or other media reports about her and other lawsuits filed against her by third parties.
Cardi B
In 2018, Cardi opened up to GQ that she was a member of the “Blood” gang as a kid but advised young kids against doing the same. Cardi said she believed Emani planned to prejudice the jury by bringing up the topics to “divert attention from” her “frivolous claims.”
In her motion, Cardi argued that if the topics were discussed during the jury it would cause her harm.
Her lawyer said, “There is a serious danger that the jury will believe, based largely on hearsay evidence, that because [Cardi] has been alleged to have acted in a certain manner at a different time and place involving different people, she committed the acts alleged by [Emani], or that the jury will conclude that [Cardi] is a ‘bad person’ and seek to improperly punish her on that basis.”
A judge has yet to rule. In her filing, Cardi said the lawsuit is over an alleged 60-90 second encounter on a single occasion. She said she was pregnant at the time and had not publicly disclosed her pregnancy to the world.
Her lawyer provided new details of the incident. Cardi’s lawyer wrote, “[Cardi] was visiting her obstetrician’s office in a medical building where [Emani] was employed as a security guard. In the hallway outside [Cardi’s] obstetrician’s office, [Emani] started filming [Cardi] and speaking to someone on the phone about her. [Cardi] asked her to put her phone away because [Cardi’s] pregnancy had not been made public yet.”
The attorney added, “The incident escalated into a verbal argument. [Cardi] denies touching [Emani], but [Emani] alleges that during the brief verbal altercation, [Cardi] yelled at her, spit on her, and [Emani] was scratched by [Cardi’s] fingernail, which is strenuously disputed.”
The rapper pointed out Emani did not see a medical professional for the scratch until four and a half years after the incident. Cardi also claimed the “scar” on Emani’s face is not visible.
For her part, Emani claimed the incident not only caused her physical injury, but said she also deals with emotional and psychological damage.