Topline
Rapper Cardi B denied committing assault and battery against a woman in an obstetrician’s office seven years ago while testifying in a civil trial this week, but her time on the witness stand is garnering attention online for her animated reactions and a bizarre line of questioning about her wigs and nails.
Cardi B was questioned about the blonde wig she wore during testimony Tuesday. (Photo by MEGA/GC Images)
GC Images
Key Facts
Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, will return to the stand Wednesday in an Alhambra, California courtroom, five years after a security guard at a Beverly Hills obstetrician’s office sued her for assault and battery, alleging the rapper struck her head and body, spat on her and swore at her during a confrontation in 2018.
On the witness stand Tuesday, Almanzar denied there was any physical confrontation and claimed the security guard, Emani Ellis, recorded her at the obstetrician’s office without her consent.
Almanzar, at the time of the alleged incident, was pregnant with her first child, which was not yet known to the public.
Clips of Almanzar’s testimony have gone viral on TikTok and X, largely because of her animated reactions to questions and because of a strange string of questions in which Ellis’ attorney asked about the rapper’s various wigs.
Forbes has reached out to lawyers representing Almanzar for comment.
Why Is Cardi B’s Testimony Going Viral?
While on the witness stand Tuesday, Ellis’ defense lawyer Ron Rosen asked Almanzar about her hair, noting she sported long blonde hair on Wednesday but had a short black bob the day before. “Which one is your real hair? Or are they both real?” Rosen asked. Almanzar rolled her eyes, laughed, and said: “They’re wigs.” “It’s a good wig today, then,” Rosen said. A clip of the exchange uploaded to X on Tuesday evening by legal reporter Meghann Cuniff has garnered 10 million views and 100,000 likes. Immediately after questioning her wigs, Rosen asked Almanzar whether she is affiliated with a gang, which Almanzar’s lawyers objected to and a judge sustained. Rosen then asked Almanzar about her nails, asking the rapper to show them to the courtroom. As Almanzar held up her nails, Rosen asked how long they were. “I don’t want you to take a ruler to it, but if you were to give your estimate, is it half an inch, one inch?” Rosen asked. He then asked her to display her fingernails again, and asked whether they were real and if they were pointy. Almanzar said they were fake and rounded. Rosen’s questions about Almanzar’s nails followed testimony by Ellis, who claimed Almanzar had scratched her with her long fingernails during their alleged confrontation. In another clip uploaded to X by Cuniff, Rosen questioned Almanzar on the definition of “altercation,” and asked whether his cross-examination of the rapper could be classified as an altercation. “We’re having, I’ll say, a debate,” Almanzar said, prompting laughs from the courtroom. In her post, Cuniff said she feels the plaintiff’s lawyers are “completely banking on jurors being repulsed by Cardi B,” but noted “there’s a reason she’s a big celebrity with tens of millions of followers,” suggesting the rapper is charming the courtroom. Another clip, in which Rosen questioned Almanzar about legal terms as the rapper sighed, said she doesn’t know and made faces, garnered 2 million views on X.
Why Was Cardi B Sued For Assault And Battery?
Ellis filed a lawsuit against Almanzar in Los Angeles County’s superior court in 2020, accusing the rapper of assault, battery and infliction of emotional distress, also alleging Almanzar used her celebrity status to get Ellis fired, though Ellis’ lawyer said Monday they would drop the latter allegation. On the stand Monday, Ellis testified she was working her shift in the obstetrician’s office when she noticed Almanzar, stating she blurted out her name. Almanzar then allegedly became upset, put her finger in Ellis’ face, yelled obscenities, scratched her face with her long nails and spit on her, Ellis testified. Ellis testified Almanzar accused her of trying to spread the news about her then-unnanounced first pregnancy. In her testimony, Almanzar said the confrontation was a “verbal incident,” admitting she called Ellis a “bitch” because she believed Ellis was recording her on her phone, but denied there was any physical contact.
Tangent
The civil trial is separate from another assault lawsuit filed against Almanzar last month, stemming from a 2023 incident in which Almanzar threw a microphone into the crowd at a Las Vegas performance. The woman, who filed a lawsuit under the pseudonym Jane Doe, accused Almanzar of assault, battery and negligence. At the time of the incident, video of Almanzar flinging her mic into the crowd after a concertgoer threw their drink at the rapper went viral.
Further Reading
Cardi B Testifies at Security Guard Assault Trial: ‘I Didn’t Touch Her’ (Rolling Stone)
Remember when Cardi B threw a mic at a fan? She’s being sued for it (Los Angeles Times)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/08/27/cardi-b-civil-trial-rapper-returns-to-stand-wednesday-as-bizarre-cross-examination-goes-viral/
