Cardi B Takes the Stand, Tells Court What an Altercation Is and…

Cardi B can’t help but be charming—even in court.

The rapper is back in a Los Angeles courtroom for a civil assault trial, but true to form, she’s got the entire room laughing. While on the stand this week, Cardi was asked about everything from the authenticity of her voluminous hair to whether she even knew what a “verbal altercation” was.

“When you say there was a verbal altercation, do you know what the word altercation means?” asked Rob Rosen, a lawyer for plaintiff Emani Ellis.

“Like a conflict,” Cardi shot back. “It was like a verbal fight, but it didn’t get physical at all.”

When the lawyer pushed further, asking if their courtroom exchange counted as a verbal altercation, Cardi grinned and deflected.

“We’re having a debate,” she said, playfully shaking her head. Cue the jury and TikTok cracking up.

Independent reporter Meghann Cuniff, better known online as Meghann the Reporter, posted a clip of the exchange, and of course the jokes flowed.

“She got the jury laughing she’s not going to have to pay a dime 😂😂😂,” one person commented.

Another chimed in saying, "She’s so naturally funny.”

And one person called out how fast the lawyer followed up with the next question.

"He so mad she took over the room 😂😂😂,' they wrote.

The case itself stems from a 2018 incident. Emani Ellis, a former security guard, claims Cardi assaulted her while at an OBGYN appointment. But Cardi dismissed it with her usual bluntness.

“She didn’t hit me. I didn’t hit her. There was no touch, so to me it wasn’t no incident," she said on the stand.

All this courtroom buzz comes just weeks before the release of her long-awaited second album, Am I the Drama? It will be her first in seven years.

Speaking with Zane Lowe about its theme, Cardi admitted she was “trying so much to be unproblematic, me trying to avoid drama, avoid the disses, avoid the bitches, avoid the talks. It’s like that shit is dying, that’s dying out in me.”

She continued: “Because I’m really about to show you, bitch, that you are not fucking with me.”

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