SANTA ANA, California – On Friday, a jury ruled in favor of Cardi B in a lawsuit concerning a man who alleged that the Grammy-winning rapper utilized his back tattoos for her sexually provocative 2016 mixtape cover art.
A federal jury in Southern California ruled in favor of Cardi B after Kevin Michael Brophy failed to establish that Cardi B stole his likeness. The rapper embraced her legal representation and appeared happy after the jury forewoman read the verdict.
Cardi B expressed gratitude the jurors, acknowledging she was “definitely nervous” before receiving the verdict.
“I was really not sure if I was going to lose or not,” she said after exiting the courthouse. She was surrounded by reporters, photographers, as well as over 40 high school students who chanted her name.
One supporter held up a sign that read: will you take me to my homecoming dance and she replied “Yes, I’ll see what I can do.”
“I tried to tell myself that if I won, I’d cuss Mr. Brophy out.” “But I do not have it in me to curse him out,” she explained. Cardi B had a relatively short, courteous conversation with Brophy in the courthouse and shook his hand.
Brophy’s suit was filed one year after the rapper’s 2016 mixtape was released.
He described himself as a “family man with minor children” and claimed that the artwork, which depicted a tattooed man from the back with his head between the rapper’s legs inside a limo, caused him “distress as well as humiliation.”
The man’s face is obscured. “At the close of the day,” Brophy told Cardi B, “I respect you as an artist.”
A. Barry Cappello, Brophy’s lawyer, stated that photo-editing software was used to place the back tattoo, which has popped up in tattoo magazines, onto the male model spotlighted on the mixtape cover.
However, Cardi B, real name Belcalis Almanzar, denied the claims during her testimony earlier this week and also the trial was briefly halted by U.S District Judge Cormac Carney after Cardi had an intense exchange with Cappello.
Cardi B stated that she did not believe Brophy had suffered any harm as a result of the artwork. She claimed that Brophy had legally hounded her for five years, and that she had even missed her youngest child’s “first step” due to the trial.
Cardi B responded sharply to several of Cappello’s questions. The lawyer once told her to stay calm, but she resisted his claim that she was aware of the altered image.
Their tense standoff compelled the judge to send jury members out of the Santa Ana, California, courtroom as well as inform both parties that a mistrial was being considered. He called the arguing “unprofessional” as well as “not productive” after a brief hiatus, but permitted questioning to resume before imposing new restrictions.
Cardi B asserted that a creator used only a “small portion” of her tattoos without her permission. She previously stated that the cover art, designed by Timm Gooden, was a transformative fair use of Brophy’s likeness.
According to Cappello, Gooden was paid $50 to create a design but was instructed to find another tattoo after submitting an initial draft. Gooden, he said, started googling “back tattoos” before finding an image and pasting it on the cover.
Cardi B’s lawyer, Peter Anderson, claims the model as well as the mixtape pic are unrelated, pointing out that the model doesn’t have neck tattoos, whereas Brophy does.
“It’s just not your client’s back,” Cardi B said of the photo, which included a Black model. Brophy is a white man. The rapper stated that she had posted the famous Canadian model’s photo on her social media.
“It is not really him,” she went on. “It doesn’t look like his back to me at all.” The tattoo has been altered, which is protected under the First Amendment.”
Cardi B stated that Brophy’s career with a popular surf and skate apparel brand, as well as his capacity to travel the world for opportunities, have not been hampered by his image.
“He hasn’t been fired from his job,” the rapper said, implying that the mixtape was not profitable for her. “He hasn’t divorced yet.” How much pain has he endured? He’s still working in a surf shop. Please tell me about his ordeal.”
Cardi B pled to a criminal case arising from a pair of brawls at New York City strip clubs last month, and she was sentenced to 15 days of community service.
Previously this year, the rapper was accorded $1.25 million in a defamation suit against one celebrity news blogger who falsely claimed she was using cocaine, had herpes, and was involved in sex work.
