By: Gabrielle Chung
A jury sided with Cardi B in her defamation lawsuit against YouTuber Tasha K.
On Jan. 24, the jury deemed Tasha liable for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to the verdict obtained by E! News.
The “Bodak Yellow” rapper was awarded $1 million in general damages and an additional $250,000 in medical expenses.
E! News reached out to the lawyers for both stars and hasn’t heard back.
Cardi B opened up about her mental health as she took the stand in her libel suit against Tasha K, a YouTuber with more than a million subscribers who Cardi claims has been spreading false rumors about her.
On Jan. 13, Cardi, born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, appeared in a Georgia court to testify how Tasha’s alleged defamatory posts took a toll on her well-being. According to Billboard, the 29-year-old rapper told a federal jury that she felt “extremely suicidal” and “helpless” amid the allegations, resulting in her developing fatigue, anxiety and migraines.
Cardi also reportedly said she had never felt suicidal prior to the Tasha’s claims, and that she struggled in her relationship with her husband Offset, with whom she shares two children, as a result of the YouTuber’s videos.
She testified, per TMZ, “I felt defeated and depressed and I didn’t want to sleep with my husband.”
The Grammy winner filed her lawsuit against Tasha, whose real name is Latasha Kebe, in 2019. In court documents obtained by E! News, Cardi and her legal team alleged that Tasha used her YouTube channel to “spread malicious rumors, slanderous assertions, and false information about celebrities” for financial gain.
In the suit, Tasha is accused of making at least 23 videos in 14 months that featured “false and defamatory statements” about Cardi, including allegations that the star was a prostitute, contracted herpes and used drugs.
Calling it a “malicious campaign to damage and destroy,” Cardi and her attorneys alleged that Tasha “knew these statements to be false” but “acted with reckless disregard of whether they were true or not” and published them.
As a result, the suit stated, Cardi suffered “embarrassment, humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional distress.”
She is seeking damages as well as an order for Tasha to “remove in full all defamatory and disparaging statements.”
For her part, Tasha has denied Cardi’s accusations, per Billboard. She countersued the “WAP” artist last year on claims of harassment, but that suit was tossed out in July after a judge ruled that Tasha “failed to produce any evidence” backing her claims, according to dismissal papers obtained by E! News.
Court records show that the libel trial against Tasha will continue on Jan. 18.
E! News reached out to attorneys for Cardi and Tasha but did not hear back.