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Key Takeaways:
- A concertgoer is suing Cardi B for battery, claiming that the rapper hit her with a microphone during a 2023 Las Vegas show.
- The case is civil, not criminal, and was filed after Cardi B was cleared of charges related to the same incident.
- The “Bodak Yellow” artist’s legal team calls the lawsuit a “pitiful attempted financial shakedown” and says the matter was already resolved.
The viral microphone incident from Cardi B’s performance at Drai’s Beachclub is coming back to haunt her legally. On Monday (July 21), a concertgoer, identified only as Jane Doe, filed a complaint alleging that the rapper’s actions during the Las Vegas altercation caused “severe emotional distress, shock, humiliation, and physical injury” as well as “reputational and emotional harm.” Doe is suing Cardi B for assault, battery and negligence.
Fans might recall someone throwing a drink at the hitmaker while she was performing “Bodak Yellow.” Footage circulating online — though it’s unclear if it was filmed before or after she threw her microphone into the crowd — captured Cardi B encouraging the crowd, “Splash me down. That s**t feels good.” Afterward, though, she appeared to address someone specifically: “I said my p**sy, not my face.”
According to legal documents obtained by People, Doe alleges the Grammy Award-winning musician “demonstrated her consent and participation by pouring water from a bottle over her body while onstage.” The filing also claims she “physically reacted to splashes by slapping her posterior while audience-thrown liquids made contact with her.”
“In apparent anger and without warning, Cardi B suddenly and forcefully threw her microphone directly at [the] plaintiff,” Doe’s lawyers continued. The concertgoer says that, in addition to physical injury, she faced emotional distress from the incident going viral and the microphone being auctioned off on eBay for nearly $100,000.
The woman is also suing Drai’s Management Group for negligence, claiming the venue’s security team didn’t step in or try to de-escalate the situation. The lawsuit further notes that Cardi B threw a microphone at a DJ during a separate altercation just the night before, which, according to the plaintiff, should’ve raised red flags.
The Invasion of Privacy artist’s legal team has already responded. Attorney Drew Findling told People, “The filing of a civil case against Ms. Almanzar [Cardi B] regarding the two-year-old microphone incident is a transparent and pitiful attempted financial shakedown. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the Clark County District Attorney’s Office closed this matter for insufficient evidence a long time ago, but apparently the opportunity to try to make money off of a celebrity was too much for some willing law firm to pass up.”
