Cardi B is being sued for assault, battery, and negligence for allegedly throwing a microphone at a concertgoer who sprayed the rapper with their drink during a concert at Drai’s Beachclub in Las Vegas in 2023.
As Entertainment Weekly reported at the time, videos from the event showed the rapper in the middle of her hit “Bodak Yellow” when a fan raised their cup and threw their drink in her direction. A visibly startled Cardi could be seen locating the attendee before chucking her microphone in their direction and yelling at the person. Other videos shared by fellow concertgoers seemed to confirm that the mic did make physical contact with someone.
Several security guards stepped in to intervene, and eventually Cardi continued the set. Still other videos circulating online at the time showed the rapper encouraging fans to splash her with water. “That s— feels good,” she could be heard saying. “Put that s— in my p—y.”
All of which the alleged victim, who filed their complaint under the name Jane Doe, cited in the lawsuit filed on Monday, which EW has reviewed. “During the performance, Cardi B appeared onstage under visibly high-temperature conditions and, while holding a microphone, verbally requested that the audience splash water on her,” the complaint states. “Cardi B made repeated gestures and statements encouraging concertgoers to throw water, implicitly authorizing and inviting light splashing from drinks.”
“Multiple attendees responded in kind, throwing drinks toward the stage, several of which visibly reached Cardi B and the surrounding performance area,” the lawsuit continues. “Plaintiff, acting in accordance with the environment created by Cardi B’s express words and conduct, and in a manner consistent with other attendees, splashed a small portion of her drink in Cardi B’s direction. In apparent anger and without warning, Cardi B suddenly and forcefully threw her microphone directly at plaintiff.”
Per the suit, as a result of the incident, Doe claims she has incurred “physical pain, emotional distress, reputational damage, embarrassment, and harassment from both media and members of the public.” She also claims that her emotional distress was “exacerbated” when the microphone itself was later auctioned off for nearly $100,000.
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Drew Findling, an attorney for Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, tells EW in a statement, “The filing of a civil case against Ms. Almanzar 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.”
Doe addressed the issue in a statement provided to EW on Wednesday. “What has been written off as a joke by many people is actually a traumatic experience that has significantly impacted my well-being and quality of life,” says Doe. “I am seeking justice in the hopes of holding Cardi B accountable for her misdeeds, as no celebrity is above the law.”
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The woman is also suing Drai’s Beachclub for negligence, claiming in part that because the rapper was allegedly involved in a “substantially similar altercation” at the same venue, during which she threw a microphone at a DJ, the venue should have known “of this prior incident and that Cardi B posed a foreseeable risk of repeat violent conduct during her performance.”
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