Cardi B awarded over £2m in damages in defamation case win

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-60124769

Cardi B has been awarded over £2 million in damages after winning a defamation lawsuit against a YouTuber.

The rapper and songwriter, known for songs including I Like It, Money and WAP, was subjected to a “malicious campaign” of false accusations by Latasha Kebe, known online as Tasha K.

Kebe hosts gossip site UnWineWithTashaK which has one million subscribers.

She was previously made to pay damages of almost £1 million.

On Tuesday, a jury in the state of Georgia ordered that Kebe pay a further £1,109,625.00 in damages and £990,342.88 in legal fees.

The total she now has to pay to Cardi B is £3,027,405.38, documents obtained by the PA news agency show.

During the trial, lawyers for the singer, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, said Kebe had waged “a campaign to damage and destroy [Cardi B’s] reputation among her fans and the consuming public”.

‘Degrading statements’
They claimed Kebe started making “degrading and harassing statements” in early 2018 and continued to do so, at one point falsely claiming the star had worked as a prostitute.

Cardi B’s lawyers said comments and videos on Kebe’s channel caused the singer “embarrassment, humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional distress”.

The singer is well known for other hits including Thru Your Phone, I Like It and Bodak Yellow which appear on her 2018 album Invasion Of Privacy.