Cardi B appeared in Queens Criminal Court on Monday to respond to allegations that she did not complete her 15 days of community service as part of a plea deal related to the infamous strip club brawl she was involved in.
Cardi, real name Belcalis Almanzar, broke the long-running case in September by pleading guilty. After the sentence, the WAP rapper said, “Part of growing up and maturing is being held accountable for your actions.”
On Tuesday, the judge in the case gave Cardi until March 1 to complete her sentence. The Bronx native appeared in court all in white, a color usually associated with innocence and purity.
She wore an oversized fur coat, sleeveless dress, Louboutin heels and white-rimmed Christian Dior sunglasses for the performance.
In a brief statement, her attorney, Drew Findling, told : “Personally and professionally, Cardi is involved in charitable causes and charitable causes. She therefore appreciates that the court has given her until March 1 to complete her community service in Queens, New York.”
The fight took place in August 2018. Cardi pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts, while ten other counts, including two felonies, were dismissed. Two co-defendants also pleaded guilty.
The judge in the case gave Cardi until March 1 to do her community service
The plea deal also required Cardi B to provide the court with a DNA sample and banned her from contacting the victims in the case for three years
Appearing in court didn’t seem to have stressed the rapper too much, as she tweeted about her masturbation techniques just hours before the judge.
According to prosecutors, Cardi B and her entourage targeted employees at the Angels strip club in Flushing, Queens, over an apparent personal dispute.
One fight saw chairs, bottles and hookahs thrown as the group argued with a bartender. She and another employee were slightly injured.
“No one is above the law,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement at the time of the sentencing. “By pleading guilty today, Ms. Belcalis Almanzar and two co-defendants have accepted responsibility for their actions. This office is satisfied with the solution, which includes appropriate community service.’
In 2019, Cardi B turned down a plea deal that would have gotten her a parole. Prosecutors then referred the case to a grand jury and obtained an indictment containing the two felony charges.
“I’ve made some bad decisions in my past that I’m not afraid to face up to,” Cardi B said, adding that she wanted to set a good example for her two children.
“Those moments don’t define me and they don’t reflect who I am now,” she added. “I’m looking forward to getting through this situation with my family and friends and getting back to what I love most – the music and my fans.”
Cardi B’s top hits include I Like It and the Maroon 5 collaboration Girls Like You.
Cardi is led into the courtroom of Queens County Criminal Court
Cardi was flanked by her attorney, including Drew Findling, attorney for the celebrity rapper known to many in hip-hop as “The Illist.”
The rapper made no statement to the media after the judge gave her a second chance
In September 2022, when she pleaded guilty to the charges, Cardi said, “I’ve made some bad choices in my past that I’m not afraid to face and admit.”
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors described the melee as follows: “The victims were allegedly pelted with glass bottles, alcoholic beverages were thrown in their faces and a woman’s head was smashed against the bar.”
In 2019, the rapper pleaded not guilty to assault related to the fight. The singer, known for hits like “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It,” was indicted by a grand jury in 2019 along with two other people in her entourage on felony counts.
After receiving her light sentence for the incident, the rapper made her way to Manhattan’s Little Italy, where she celebrated the decision by devouring an Italian sausage.
Despite her signature look with extremely long nails, Cardi B seemed to have no trouble navigating her soda can and sausage and peppers, to which she deftly added a squirt of mustard before returning to a waiting Cadillac Escalade, food in hand.
Similar to Tuesday, Cardi was dressed all in white for the day, albeit with a different hairstyle.
The rapper also said, “Those moments don’t define me and they don’t reflect who I am now.”
Prosecutors previously described Cardi’s actions during the brawl, saying, “Glass bottles were allegedly thrown at the victims, alcoholic beverages were thrown in their faces and a woman’s head was banged against the bar.”
The case stems from a vicious fight at Angels Strip Club in New York City in 2018, when two bartenders say they were attacked by Cardi B’s entourage, who were hurling bottles and liquor
Cardi’s guilty plea allowed the Grammy winner to avoid potentially embarrassing court testimony
Speaking to reporters in September as she left court, Cardi said, “I feel like I look good.”
The plea deal also required Cardi B to provide the court with a DNA sample and banned her from contacting the victims in the case for three years.
Her post-sentence statement read in full, “As a mother, I try to teach my children this practice, but the example starts with me,” she added.
“I’ve made some bad decisions in my past that I’m not afraid to face and admit. Those moments don’t define me and they don’t reflect who I am now,” said Cardi B.
“I’m looking forward to getting through this situation with my family and friends and getting back to what I love most – the music and my fans.”
She reportedly told eight people, including Tawana Jackson-Morel and Jeffrey Bush, to attack sisters Baddie Gi and Jade.
have reached out to the couple for comment on new developments in the case.
Cardi has been accused of telling eight people, including Tawana Jackson-Morel and Jeffrey Bush, that they assaulted sisters Baddie Gi and Jade
The rapper shows off her signature long nails as she walks off the court
After receiving her light sentence for the September incident, the rapper made her way to Manhattan’s Little Italy, where she celebrated the decision by devouring an Italian sausage
Shortly before her court appearance in Queens, Cardi’s interview was dropped on The Jason Lee Show podcast.
During the episode, Cardi described the moment she and her husband, Offset, learned their boyfriend, Migos member Takeoff, had been killed in Houston.
She said the couple had been in bed after deciding not to go out on Halloween.
The Bodak Yellow star says: “Offset’s phone kept ringing, my phone kept ringing. Offset picked up the phone and he just said, ‘No!’ He screams and screams. He screams like, “No! No! No! No!” He says, “TakeOff is dead.”
She continued, “I hit him and said, ‘Don’t say that!’ And then he’s like he’s yelling and throwing things, throwing up, running all over the place. And I was so scared, I cried so much. It was terrible.’
The rapper did not speak to the media as she left court on Tuesday
Cardi goes before her attorney, Drew Findling, in September he said of the rapper: ‘Amazing client, amazing person’
The rapper was dressed all in white, the color typically associated with innocence and purity
In October, Cardi went on trial in California, where a federal jury dismissed claims that Cardi misappropriated the picture of a man on the cover of her debut 2016 mixtape album.
The cover of Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1 did not violate plaintiff Kevin Michael Brophy’s rights of publicity or privacy by showing an altered photo of another man with Brophy’s unique back tattoo performing oral sex on the popular rapper, the Santa Ana Jury after a four-day trial and afternoon of deliberations.
Brophy’s 2017 lawsuit sought at least $5 million in damages from Cardi B and her ex-manager Klenord Raphael and an injunction preventing them from using his likeness.
Brophy’s attorney Barry Cappello of Cappello & Noel said in an email to Portal that Cardi B and Raphael were “gracious winners” and shook hands with Brophy after the verdict.
“If this chapter can be closed, perhaps the best thing for the Brophy family is to put this behind us,” Cappello said.