Cardi B has been embroiled in a $24 million lawsuit with security guard Emani Ellis since 2020.
Ellis filed suit against Cardi (real name Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar) following an alleged altercation that took place at a Beverly Hills, California, medical office in 2018. A physical confrontation allegedly erupted when Cardi suspected that Ellis was filming her without her permission.
In the bombshell lawsuit, Ellis accused the Grammy-winning musician of assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and false imprisonment over the incident. The security guard also claimed that she’d undergone “psychological and medical treatment” to recover.
Cardi denied all allegations made against her by Ellis and accused the security guard of trying to unfairly secure a massive financial payout. More than seven years after the original altercation, Cardi and Ellis finally faced off in court in August 2025.
Keep scrolling for more information on Ellis and why she filed a $24 million lawsuit against the rapper:
Who Is Emani Ellis?
Ellis worked as a security guard at the Beverly Hills medical center where Cardi was receiving obstetrics treatment in February 2018. She testified in the August 2025 trial that she’d been working at the building for four years by 2018 and had no criminal record.
Asked how she’d landed the security job, Ellis told her lawyer: “You have to get finger-printed and it’s sent to the state of California for approval.”
Ellis denied during her testimony that she’d ever “assaulted or battered” anyone in her life. Under cross-examination, Ellis said she was fired from her security job due to the incident with Cardi but had since pivoted to a new career as a social worker.
“I work with low-income families to access resources,” she noted.
What Happened Between Emani Ellis and Cardi B?
The exact details of the 2018 confrontation remain in dispute, as Ellis and Cardi have given very different descriptions of their run-in.
Cardi was four months pregnant at the time, though she had not yet publicly announced she was expecting her first child. (The rapper shares her daughter Kulture (born in July 2018), as well as son Wave (born in September 2021) and daughter Blossom (born in September 204), with her estranged husband, Offset. Cardi filed for divorce from Offset in July 2024 after nearly seven years of marriage.)
Ellis and Cardi both agree that they crossed paths in the medical building’s hallway. During her August 2025 testimony, Cardi recalled that Ellis followed her down the hall and tried to secretly film her.
Cardi said she asked why Ellis was recording her, to which the security guard allegedly replied: “Because I can.”
“No, you can’t,” Cardi recalled responding.
Emani Ellis Snorlax / MEGA
While Cardi has denied that the argument ever turned physical, she acknowledged that the two women were standing “chest to chest” as she demanded, “Bitch, get the f*** out of my face.”
“We’re literally screaming at each other,” Cardi told the court. “I didn’t touch her. It was like a verbal fight, but it didn’t get physical at all.”
Ellis offered a totally different interpretation in her testimony. She admitted to saying aloud, “Wow, it’s Cardi B,” when she spotted the artist stepping off the elevator. However, Ellis said she immediately tried to assure Cardi B that she wouldn’t tell anyone about her visit to the obstetrics office.
Ellis accused Cardi of cutting her face with a fingernail once the disagreement allegedly turned physical. Cardi also allegedly spit on the security guard and used racial slurs before the two were separated.
What Has Emani Ellis Said About the Case?
In her own August 2025 testimony, Ellis insisted that she wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular when she identified Cardi on the fifth floor hallway.
“After she heard me say her name, she turned back around and the first thing out of her mouth was — excuse my language — ‘Why the f*** are you telling people that you see me,’” Ellis said. “At this time, I tried to calm her down and assure her that I didn’t tell anyone that I’d seen her, and she was extremely upset.”
Cardi B‘s split from husband Offset just got even more tumultuous, with the “Bodak Yellow” rapper addressing new allegations against her ex. Cardi slammed Offset during an Instagram Live on Wednesday, September 25, saying (via E! News), “But f— you, I regret you. … I’m too good for you. I’ve always been too good for […]
Ellis alleged that Cardi B initiated physicality between them by jabbing a finger in her face as she engaged in a profanity-laced tirade.
“She was like, ‘F*** you, you fat-ass bitch, I’m gonna beat your ass, I’m gonna get you fired … that’s why you do security,’” Ellis told the court.
According to Ellis, Cardi tried to strike her and ended up slashing her face with a nail. Ellis alleged that Cardi later “used her celebrity status” to get her fired from the security job.
Emani Ellis APEX / MEGA
Ellis testified that she’d dealt with a variety of physical and emotional symptoms in the wake of her alleged encounter with Cardi, including anxiety and depression, insomnia and post-traumatic stress. She confirmed to her lawyer that she’d sought treatment with a psychologist two months after the incident.
During her court appearance, Ellis admitted she initially had no intention of suing Cardi, yet she changed her mind after weighing the physical and emotional trauma of their encounter.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usmagazine.com ’
