Cardi B attends the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 02, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo / Getty Images
Cardi B attends the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 02, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo / Getty Images
Cardi B is being sued for alleged battery after throwing a microphone off stage in 2023.
The 32-year-old singer was performing at Drai’s Beach Club in Las Vegas on July 29, 2023, when she allegedly threw her microphone at the unnamed woman in the audience.
According to the complaint, filedin a court in Nevada, Cardi B “appeared onstage under visibly high-temperature conditions and, while holding a microphone, verbally requested that the audience splash water on her”.
Cardi B throws her microphone at an audience member who threw a drink at her 👀 pic.twitter.com/fKmFLFGzKw
The lawsuit claims that Cardi B “made repeated gestures and statements encouraging concertgoers to throw water, implicitly authorising and inviting light splashing from drinks.
“[Cardi B] further demonstrated her consent and participation by pouring water from a bottle over her body while onstage,” and she ”physically reacted to splashes by slapping her posterior while audience-thrown liquids made contact with her”.
Cardi B and Offset attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones. Photo / Getty Images
The alleged victim – who is referred to as Jane Doe in the lawsuit – claims that in “accordance with the environment” and “in a manner consistent with other attendees, [she] splashed a small portion of her drink in Cardi B’s direction”.
However, she claims that Cardi B reacted in “apparent anger and without warning” and “suddenly and forcefully” threw her microphone directly at her, where she experienced “immediate apprehension of an imminent harmful contact”.
The woman alleged the microphone made contact with her, “resulting in offensive and unconsented physical contact and causing physical injury”.
In court papers, she claims Cardi B should have known that the microphone “presented a foreseeable risk of physical injury when thrown” and it was “an unjustified and retaliatory act that resulted in harmful and offensive contact”.
She added that Cardi B’s actions were “excessive, disproportionate and undertaken in a public venue, causing additional reputational and emotional harm,” and claims she suffered “severe emotional distress, shock, humiliation and physical injury”.
She is suing for assault, battery and negligence, and is also suing Drai’s Management Group for negligence.
She said: “What has been written off as a joke by many people is actually a traumatic experience that has significantly impacted my wellbeing and quality of life. I am seeking justice in the hopes of holding Cardi B accountable.”
Drew Findling, an attorney for Cardi B – whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar - said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly: “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.”
