Key Developments
- Los Angeles jury unanimously clears rapper Cardi B of assault allegations after less than one hour of deliberation
- Former security guard Emani Ellis sought up to $25 million in damages over 2018 Beverly Hills medical building confrontation
- Case highlights broader concerns about impulse control and sudden confrontations that escalate into physical altercations
A Los Angeles jury delivered a swift not-guilty verdict Tuesday clearing rapper Cardi B of liability in an assault suit stemming from a heated confrontation with a security guard at a Beverly Hills medical building in February 2018. The verdict came after approximately one hour of deliberations following a week-long trial that drew significant public attention.
Former security guard Emani Ellis claimed the Grammy-winning artist became physical with her after Ellis recognized Cardi B leaving an elevator en route to see an obstetrician. Ellis sought punitive damages that her legal team suggested could reach $25 million, though closing arguments focused on a more modest award of three to 10 times her reported $35,000 in medical costs.
The jury rejected claims of assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress under California’s civil tort framework, which requires plaintiffs to prove their case by a preponderance of evidence—meaning more likely than not. In civil assault cases, plaintiffs must demonstrate the defendant intended to cause harmful or offensive contact and that such contact was imminent.
What This Verdict Means: The unanimous jury finding suggests Ellis failed to meet even the lower civil burden of proof, despite needing only to show it was more probable than not that Cardi B committed the alleged acts.
The case centered on a 40-to-50-second confrontation that began when Ellis allegedly recognized the rapper and appeared to begin recording her with a cell phone. Cardi B, who was pregnant at the time, testified that Ellis “aggressively backed her down the hallway and into a corner” after she asked Ellis to stop filming.
Two key witnesses—medical office receptionist Tierra Malcolm and obstetrician Dr. David Finke—testified in Cardi B’s defense. Malcolm, who arrived during the scuffle and positioned herself between the two women, testified that Ellis threatened Cardi B by saying “I will F your shit up,” according to defense attorney Peter Anderson.
The defense successfully challenged Ellis’s injury claims, noting that an incident report filed two days after the confrontation mentioned only a scratch to her nose, not the multiple facial scars later claimed. Anderson told jurors that testimony from Ellis’s reconstructive surgeon wasn’t credible, stating “somehow no scar from the beginning turned into two scars and then three scars.”
