Cardi B abruptly shut down a reporter who asked her about pregnancy rumors involving her estranged husband, Offset, and her new beau, Stefon Diggs.
Per E! News, the reporter posed the question to Cardi, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, as she was leaving a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday. The 32-year-old already shares three children with fellow rapper Offset, and they’re currently going through a divorce.
In a video of the incident that happened outside the court, Cardi is seen taking a pen from someone before appearing to throw it toward the reporter’s direction after the journalist asked about the paternity of the supposed fourth child that she was carrying.
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“Stop disrespecting me,” the I Like It rapper said after appearing to throw the pen. “You’re disrespectful. Don’t do that.”
Cardi then went ahead to imply that the reporter’s line of questioning was sexist. “Do you see women asking those types of questions to me?” she asked. “Why do you feel, as a man, you get to ask me those types of questions?”
Cardi also had a few more words for the reporter before she entered her car. “Act like you have some manners and your mama taught you [to] respect women,” she said.
Cardi addressed the reporter after a Los Angeles jury cleared her of assault after a security guard sued her for $24 million in an alleged fingernail attack, Face2Face Africa reported Tuesday.
The BBC reported that the jury took only about an hour to clear the rapper of the allegations of assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress as well as negligence and false imprisonment.
According to Rolling Stone, the rapper testified last week following a 2020 lawsuit filed by the security guard who alleged Cardi assaulted her outside a Beverly Hills medical clinic in 2018. Security guard Emani Ellis alleged that Cardi spat on her, slashed her face with her fingernails, and physically assaulted her when Cardi was at the obstetrician’s office.
Rolling Stone reported that Ellis, who worked at the office, started “wilding out” and seemed to be following and recording Cardi, who was then secretly expecting her first child with Offset. Cardi stated that a “verbal altercation” started when she felt trapped, but it never turned violent, according to Rolling Stone.
The BBC reported that the mother of three told jurors that Ellis, a security guard in the building, called someone to let them know she was there and then followed her down a hallway after Cardi exited an elevator.
The artist went on to say that Ellis appeared to record her on her phone, violated her privacy, and wouldn’t “back up,” leading to a “verbal altercation” in person. Cardi’s lawyer stated that the rapper “feared for her unborn baby” and accused Ellis of “changing your story.”
Ellis previously testified in court that she didn’t inform anyone that Cardi was there or record her, but that she yelled the rapper’s name out of excitement when she saw her. Ellis said the rapper threw insults and threats at her and attacked her after accusing her of trying to spread rumors that she was at the doctor’s office.
Since this was a civil case, the jury was asked to decide if Cardi should be held liable for injuring Ellis. The jury was also asked to look at if the rapper should pay the security guard for pain and suffering.
The jury cleared the rapper entirely in the case, BBC reported.
