After three years of initially filing a lawsuit against YouTube influencer and blogger Tasha K for libel, Cardi B won $1.25 million in damages in the case this week.
The legal battle started in 2019 in federal court after Tasha K, whose real name is Latasha Kebe, accused Cardi B of engaging in prostitution, drug use, and having contracted herpes.
Tasha K, and a company she owns were found liable for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress against the rapper.
The jury awarded Cardi B $1 million in general damages for pain and suffering and/or reputational injury and $250,000 in medical expenses.
The conflict began in early 2018 when Kebe began targeting Cardi B making “degrading and harassing statements” about her, the lawsuit says. On Sept. 19, 2018 Kebe published a video of an interview she did with a woman who said she’d known Cardi B before her music career.
The video includes the “false, malicious and defamatory” statements. Kebe then proceeded to attack Cardi B and make false statements about her on social media for months, the lawsuit says.
The statements caused Cardi B to “suffer embarrassment, humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional distress,” the lawsuit says. They also “caused damage to her reputation and character within her profession and industry, including but not limited to among her fans and with prospective business relations.”
