An Ohio woman is suing Cardi B, claiming she was “forcefully” hit by a microphone thrown by the rapper during a performance at Drai’s Beachclub in Las Vegas in 2023.
According to a complaint filed in the Eighth Judicial Court in Clark County, Nevada, the woman, identified as Jane Doe, attended Cardi’s headlining performance at Drai’s Beachclub on July 29, 2023.
The lawsuit claims that during her performance, Cardi, 32, “appeared onstage under visibly high-temperature conditions and, while holding a microphone, verbally requested that the audience splash water on her.”
At the time, a clip from the concert went viral showing the “Bodak Yellow” hitmaker asking the crowd to “splash her down”.
“Splash me down. That s**t feel good. Put that s*** in my p***y, bitch. Come on,” the video shows her telling onlookers. It is unclear, however, if the video was taken before or after the incident.
The lawsuit alleges that Cardi “made repeated gestures and statements encouraging concertgoers to throw water, implicitly authorizing and inviting light splashing from drinks.”
Doe claims Cardi “further demonstrated her consent and participation by pouring water from a bottle over her body while onstage,” and that she “physically reacted to splashes by slapping her posterior while audience-thrown liquids made contact with her.”
According to the complaint, Doe, in an effort to act in “accordance with the environment,” and “in a manner consistent with other attendees, splashed a small portion of her drink in Cardi B’s direction.”
Cardi allegedly acted in “apparent anger and without warning” by “suddenly and forcefully” throwing her microphone “directly” at her, Doe claims, alleging that she experienced “immediate apprehension of an imminent harmful contact” immediately after.
She claims that the microphone did make contact with her after it was thrown, “resulting in offensive and unconsented physical contact and causing physical injury.”
Doe says in her filing that Cardi should have known that the microphone “presented a foreseeable risk of physical injury when thrown,” making the rapper’s actions “an unjustified and retaliatory act that resulted in harmful and offensive contact” with Doe.
Cardi’s actions were “excessive, disproportionate, and undertaken in a public venue, causing additional reputational and emotional harm,” Doe alleges.
She is suing for assault, battery and negligence, alleging that she underwent “severe emotional distress, shock, humiliation, and physical injury.”
The woman is also suing Drai’s Management Group for negligence.
The complaint also claims that during a performance at Drai’s Beachclub the night before, Cardi allegedly threw her microphone toward a DJ who was cutting off her songs early during another performance, as seen on TikTok.
“Drai’s knew or should have known of this prior incident and that Cardi B posed a foreseeable risk of repeat violent conduct during her performance,” the lawsuit claims.
The microphone used in the incident was auctioned for approximately $99,000 by Scott Fisher, owner of The Wave, which Doe claims exacerbated her “emotional distress.”
She says she’s “suffered physical pain, emotional distress, reputational damage, embarrassment, and harassment from both media and members of the public,” and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Following the incident, a criminal battery investigation was launched against the rapper, but the case was closed due to “insufficient evidence.”
In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Doe said: “What has been written off as a joke by many people is actually a traumatic experience that has significantly impacted my well-being and quality of life. I am seeking justice in the hopes of holding Cardi B accountable for her misdeeds, as no celebrity is above the law.”
Cardi B’s lawyer has responded to the lawsuit.
“The filing of a civil case against Ms. Almanzar regarding the two year old microphone incident is a transparent and pitiful attempted financial shakedown,” Drew Findling, an attorney for Cardi B, said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. “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.”
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