Judge Rules Against Security Guard, No New Trial For Cardi B’s Pen-Tossing Incident

Cardi B has secured a second victory in her legal dispute with Emani Ellis, who alleged that the rapper scratched her face outside a Beverly Hills OB-GYN office in 2018. On December 5, Los Angeles County Judge Ian Fusselman rejected the security guard’s request for a new trial.

According to Rolling Stone, Judge Fusselman found insufficient grounds to overturn the previous unanimous decision. In her motion, Ellis contended that jurors were intimidated by Cardi B after she threw a pen to the ground in response to a question about her then-pending pregnancy rumors while outside the courthouse.

Footage captured Cardi taking back a pen intended for an autograph and throwing it toward a YouTuber, Donat Ricketts, stating, “Stop disrespecting me. Don’t disrespect me.”

In a sworn declaration submitted on December 4, Ricketts claimed that the pen bounced off the ground and hit him. A juror did witness the incident and inquired about it, but Ricketts expressed that he was “not planning to sue.” Ellis argued that this moment may have intimidated the jury, but Judge Fusselman suggested it might have actually benefitted her case.

“We’re speculating about how it impacted them,” he remarked. “Wouldn’t that tend to help your case, rather than hurt it? Isn’t that why you wanted the jury to find out about it? You came into court and said, ‘I want [the] jury to know this just happened.’”

Ultimately, Judge Fusselman concluded that the jurors cleared Cardi based solely on the evidence presented. “They were free to ask any questions or make any comments, and they didn’t,” he noted. “I don’t find that anything outside the courtroom had any impact on the jury’s deliberations.”

After winning the civil trial in September, Cardi reiterated her stance, asserting that she “did not touch that woman.” Speaking to reporters, the mother of four emphasized, “I did not touch that girl. I didn’t lay my hands on that girl.”