Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - This Cardi B Lawsuit is Insane

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

In September 2025, a California jury unanimously cleared Cardi B of all liability in a $24 million civil lawsuit brought by former security guard Emani Ellis. The legal battle stemmed from a 2018 encounter at a Beverly Hills medical office where Ellis claimed the rapper- who was four months pregnant at the time- physically assaulted her, spat on her, and used slurs after a disagreement regarding privacy and recording.

Remember when Cardi B got sued for $24 million? What really happened? Did she really attack that woman? So the story starts with, of course, Garty B. Now, Cardi, she's around 25 years old when all this begins, and it's 2018, so she's only been rapping for about two years at this point. However, she's already super famous. But then one day, she gets some really big news.

She's pregnant. And that's great and all, but... She's a celebrity. I mean, she's worried about how this might impact her rap career. So she decides that she needs to keep it a secret for as long as she can. But then, one day, that same year, something crazy happens. See, she's in Los Angeles for the NBA All-Star weekend. And at one point, while she's in L.A., she starts to feel a little weird.

Like, something could be wrong with the pregnancy. So she decides that she needs to go to the doctor. But she needs to make sure, No one finds out why she's going. So she finds a doctor who's willing to see her on a Saturday. That way no other patients will be in the building and she won't have to worry about people trying to take her picture and the story getting out to the public. So Cardi rolls up to a medical center where this doctor is and she tells her private

security wait for me downstairs because she doesn't even want her security to know that she's pregnant. So her personal security waits for her in the lobby and Cardi takes the elevator up to the fifth floor. Right when the elevator door opens, Cardi sees this woman. Her name's Ellis. And Ellis is working as a security guard for the building. And she also just happens to be a big Cardi B fan. She even has tickets to go see Cardi later at a concert. So Ellis is standing there and she's talking on the phone. And when she sees Cardi, she says, oh my God, it's Cardi B. And Cardi just whatever walks off the elevator past her. But then Ellis starts walking behind her.

Then Ellis gets her phone and starts recording her. And Cardi turns around and she sees her following her and recording and she gets super pissed. She feels like her privacy is being violated. It's being violated by a security guard who's supposed to be a professional. So Cardi's like, why the fuck are you recording me? Aren't you security? And Ellis is like, oh, my bad. So Cardi keeps walking down the hall towards the doctor's office.

But Ellis starts following her again. her again. So Cardi turns around again and she's like, why the hell are you following me? And Ellis is like, because I can, this is my building, I do what I want. And that is when these two start yelling at each other. And Cardi's like, get the fuck out of my face, bitch. And Ellis is like, you're gonna get the fuck out of my building or I'll fuck you up. Apparently both of these women curse a lot. But anyway, meanwhile, inside the doctor's office, the receptionist hears all this commotion going on outside in the hallway. And she's like, what in the world is going on?

So she goes out into the hallway, and she gets in between Cardi and Ellis, and she tries to break up the fight. But they continue yelling at each other. Then the doctor himself comes running out, because he hears all this too. And he starts scolding Ellis, like, what are you doing?

You're at work. Be a professional. And luckily, he is able to break up the fight, and he escorts Cardi inside for her appointment. While Ellis goes home and she takes a nap. And while all of this was very dramatic, it seems like it's no big deal because the incident is now completely over. But then, two years go by, and it's now 2020. And suddenly, bam, Ellis files a lawsuit against Cardi B over that incident outside the doctor's office.

And Ellis, see, she tells the story very differently. She claims that she did see Cardi B that day getting off the elevator, but that she was not. never talking on the phone. I guess she said, oh my God, that's Cardi B out loud to no one. She also claims that she followed Cardi because Cardi was causing a disturbance. And she says that she was never recording Cardi B and that Cardi B accused her of recording her for basically no reason. And she says Cardi then got mad and was sticking her tongue out and sticking her arms out and she was jumping up and down and then Cardi spit on her. Then she claims Cardi took a swing at her and then used her very long, very scary fingernail to scratch her cheek.

And she basically complains that this fingernail scratch has essentially destroyed her life. She claims that she needed to see two plastic surgeons because of this life-altering fingernail scratch. She also says that she had once made plans to become a police officer, but that the incident with Cardi B's fingernail was so traumatizing to her that it forced her to give up on that lifelong dream. In fact, she claims that every time Cardi B's music comes on the radio or TV, she's forced to relive this horrific experience traumatizing her all over again. She even says that she's had to go to therapy to recover from anxiety and depression and insomnia

and post-traumatic stress from Cardi B's fingernail. Plus, she didn't even get to use her tickets to go see Cardi B in concert because it would have just been too hard to see her again. And so, as a result of this alleged fingernail scratch, Ellis is suing Cardi B for, are you ready for this? $24 million. Now, this is just my speculation, but I'm guessing that Ellis's lawyers just assumed that Cardi B will not want to deal with this lawsuit and will just pay out a big settlement

just to make this go away, like a lot of celebrities do. I mean, Cardi B does have a reputation for getting into fights. I mean, she's also known for getting into fights. I mean, she's also known for getting mad and cursing at people and and for having long fingernails. So there is a chance that she could lose this case and then she'd end up owing Ellis a lot of money. Until. Until Cardi decides that she's not going to back down. I mean, she's not about to pay this woman off.

That's ridiculous. So she basically says, fuck it. I'll see her in court. And she gets some lawyers to take on her case. And years pass. And it's now 20, And all of this finally goes to trial because you know lawsuits take a long time and during this trial Cardi B gets on the stand and she testifies that she wouldn't hit someone especially while she was pregnant

especially someone like Ellis who is so much larger than her and so because of that this footage of Cardi making funny facial expressions in court absolutely blows up online and it becomes like this whole meme anyway now unfortunately for Ellis when she takes the stand, she gets absolutely destroyed. Cardi's attorneys force her to admit that after the fight, she actually went home and took a nap, that she didn't go and get medical treatment, that she didn't even put a band-aid on the alleged life-destroying scratch.

And even though she claims that this scratch was so bad that she needed plastic surgery, Ellis didn't take any pictures of it, so there's actually zero record of it. Then the doctor gets on the stand and he testifies and he says that he never saw Cardi hit Ellis or scratch her or anything like that. Then the receptionist also testifies and she says basically the same thing. So from there, Ellis's entire case falls apart. She has no witnesses, no proof and after a very short deliberation, the jury finds Cardi B not liable. Meaning she wins.

While Ellis, on the other hand, ended up getting fired from her security job over all this. And at the end of it all, she walked away from this lawsuit winning absolutely nothing.