Cardi B Wins Multi-Million-Dollar Lawsuit Against YouTuber

Cardi B just won $1.25 million in a lawsuit against YouTube vlogger Tasha K. According to a report by Essence, a federal jury in Atlanta, Georgia sided with Cardi in a defamation lawsuit that claimed Tasha K’s videos were knowingly false and intentionally hurtful. The jury had to agree that the YouTuber intended to damage Cardi B’s career.

Cardi B filed a lawsuit against YouTuber Latasha Kebe back in 2019, claiming that over 20 of her gossip reporting videos contained “malicious rumors.” Cardi’s legal team made the case that these videos were part of a concerted campaign to humiliate her, damage her future business prospects and alienate her fans. When the jury agreed that these videos constituted defamation, a judge ordered Kebe to pay $1.25 million to Cardi in damages.

The rumors in those videos were mostly about Cardi B’s life before she became famous. The rapper is not shy about her past as a stripper, but Kebe made unsubstantiated claims that Cardi had also been a prostitute and a drug addict, and that she had knowingly passed on serious sexually transmitted infections to others. Most of all, she made false claims that Cardi had performed lewd acts in order to get the career she has today, rather than rising on her own merits.

A report by The New York Times includes some of the gritty details of these and other rumors that Kebe helped spread about Cardi in recent years. During the case, Cardi’s team pointed out the massive spikes in web traffic that Kebe got whenever she talked about Cardi. They considered this ample motivation for the YouTuber to make false claims. They also provided legal documentation showing that Cardi did not have the STI that Kebe claimed she had.

Cardi took the stand herself in this trial, telling the jury that she “felt extremely suicidal” when she saw Kebe’s videos and the responses they got online. She said that the ordeal also impacted her relationships as she doubted her own worth. She concluded: “Only an evil person could do that.”

Kebe reportedly contradicted herself during the trial, admitting to Cardi’s lawyers that she knew the things she said were false but then backtracking when she was cross-examined by her own lawyers. She is now liable for two counts of slander, one count of libel and one count of invasion of privacy.