Cardi B gives evidence in civil assault trial – watch inside court

“Cardi in Court: The Testimony That Stunned the Room”

The courtroom was tense. The air thick with silence, broken only by the shuffle of papers and the click of a pen. Cardi B sat in the witness chair, composed but firm, as her cross-examination resumed. She had already been under oath, and the trial had stretched over days of emotional testimony.

Then, a sigh—almost whispered but audible:
“Jesus. I think we’re all ready for recess.”

But recess would have to wait.

Her Journey into Music

The questioning began gently.

“Can you tell us how you got into the music industry?”

Cardi paused, looking thoughtful.

“I started out as a social media personality,” she said. “I had a manager who noticed that the way I spoke—my wording—was really unique. He told me, ‘You’re witty. You should try making music.’”

At first, she was hesitant.

“My friends had been doing music for years without making it. Why would I?”

But she gave it a shot—and was surprised at how much she enjoyed the process.

“It was like cooking,” she smiled. “I wasn’t sure I could do it, but the end result—it made me feel proud.”

Then came reality TV.
Yes, she said, she appeared on Love & Hip Hop. But it wasn’t until later that her music career truly took off.

A Rising Star and a Hidden Secret

“Do you have a record deal?”
“Yes—with Atlantic Records.”

“Platinum-certified songs?”
“Yes.”

“Grammy Awards?”
“Yes.”

The questions felt like a résumé being read aloud. But it all led to something deeper.

“Cardi, why did you want to keep your pregnancy a secret?”

Her face grew more serious.

“I had just had a hit record. My album wasn’t out yet. Everyone I worked with was nervous. No female rapper had blown up while being pregnant in her freshman year. I was scared… overwhelmed.”

She hadn’t even told her parents.

“It was sacred to me. Private. Something I wanted to protect.”

The Day of the Incident

When the questioning turned back to the altercation with Immani Ellis, the courtroom leaned in.

“Did you ever threaten to get Ms. Ellis fired?”
“No.”

“Did you ever spit on her?”
“Absolutely not.”

“Did you call her the N-word?”
“No. And I apologize that it was even implied.”

The Hair and Nails Debate

There had been conflicting claims about what Cardi looked like on the day of the incident. So, her legal team presented a photo taken during NBA All-Star Weekend in L.A.—the same week as the alleged confrontation.

“That’s me,” she confirmed.
“That picture refreshes your memory about your hair color?”
“Yes—ashy dirty blonde.”

Her nails?

“Acrylic. Coffin-shaped. Flat rhinestones. Orangey. To me, they were short—maybe an inch.”

They’d lasted the whole week, she said, unchanged from the time she arrived in Los Angeles.

But the other side pressed:
“You could scratch someone with those nails, couldn’t you?”

“They weren’t sharp,” she replied firmly. “Not at all.”

They asked if she could have changed the nails.

“It’s not that easy to change acrylic nails. You’d know if I did—and I didn’t.”

The Cut, the Privacy, the Belief

Tiara Malcolm, a witness, had claimed to have a cut on her forehead.
“Could you have scratched her accidentally?”

“It wouldn’t be from me,” Cardi insisted.

The conversation returned again to the pregnancy.

“When I thought my secret was being violated, I was angry. My privacy was being stripped away. My pregnancy was mine—and I’d do anything to protect it.”

End of Testimony

Cardi’s testimony wrapped with a few final questions.
She’d started rapping in 2016, she said, and by 2017, she had become a superstar.

The courtroom broke for lunch at 1:30 p.m., and the judge reminded the jury not to discuss the case, not to research anything, and not to form opinions just yet.

The room emptied slowly. But the weight of Cardi’s words lingered.