Cardi B secured a series of favorable rulings on Wednesday as a Los Angeles County judge sided with her legal team ahead of an upcoming civil trial over allegations that the rapper assaulted a security guard at a Beverly Hills medical building in 2018.

The lawsuit, filed by Emani Ellis in early 2020, accuses the Grammy-winning artist, born Belcalis Almánzar, of physically and verbally attacking her while Ellis was working as security at the building. Ellis claims Cardi struck her multiple times on her face and body, spat on her, used racial slurs, and caused her to be fired from her job following the alleged altercation. According to Ellis, the incident resulted in injuries that required plastic surgery due to scratches left by Cardi B’s fingernails.

Cardi B has denied the allegations and asserted that Ellis was the aggressor. The artist maintains that the security guard attempted to film her entering her OB-GYN’s office while she was visibly pregnant, before she had publicly announced her pregnancy with her first child, Kulture, with rapper Offset.

At a pretrial hearing this week, Judge Ian C. Fusselman ruled in favor of several defense motions, including a request to split the trial into two distinct phases. Under this structure, details about Cardi B’s financial status can only be introduced if she is found liable in the first phase. The judge also ruled to exclude references to past alleged incidents and so-called “bad acts,” such as prior altercations, police reports, drug use, gang affiliations, exotic dancing, or media controversies.

“These prior acts have no apparent probative value,” Fusselman said, ruling that introducing such topics would pose a risk of prejudicing the jury and distracting from the core facts of the case. Ellis' attorney, Ron Rosen Janfaza, questioned whether he would be allowed to ask the rapper a general question about any history of violence, but the judge clarified that unless Cardi herself brings up such claims, those lines of questioning are off-limits.

“If she says, ‘I’ve never hit anyone,’ and you have credible evidence that she hit someone before, then yeah, you can bring that up,” Fusselman said. “But you can’t force her to open the door.”

The judge also sided with the defense on two other motions, blocking testimony from a former police officer and a psychologist named by Ellis' legal team. Fusselman explained that the psychologist was not properly designated as an expert witness. As for the police officer, the judge stated that whether or not a crime was committed is irrelevant in a civil assault case, emphasizing that the jury instructions will address the legal standard.

Cardi B’s attorneys argued to exclude another medical witness after learning the doctor first saw Ellis as a patient only last week, on July 23, 2025. The physician prescribed an antidepressant and was subsequently listed as a treating doctor by Ellis. Defense lawyer Peter Anderson called the timing “preposterous,” suggesting the late addition was a tactical move. Judge Fusselman has yet to issue a ruling on whether that doctor can testify.

During the hearing, Anderson also revealed that the defense plans to call an eyewitness who allegedly saw Ellis attempting to hit Cardi B during the 2018 confrontation. The defense hopes this testimony will support their position that the rapper acted in self-defense or was wrongly accused.

Cardi B is expected to testify during the trial, which is currently scheduled to begin on August 11 in Alhambra, California. However, her full attendance could be affected by the court’s calendar, her legal team noted. The rapper is juggling a busy schedule that includes raising her three children - Kulture, 7, Wave, 3, and Blossom, 7 months - and preparing to release her new album, Am I the Drama?, due out on September 19.

The defense team includes high-profile trial attorney Lisa Fortune Moore, who previously helped Cardi B win a $4 million defamation verdict against YouTuber Tasha K, and a separate trial over the unauthorized use of a man’s tattoo on one of her early mixtape covers.

While Cardi B has dealt with past legal controversies, including a 2022 plea deal over a 2018 strip club incident in New York, she has expressed a desire to move forward. “These moments don’t define me and they are not reflective of who I am now,” she said at the time.

The two-week civil trial is expected to feature witness testimony, medical evidence, and security footage. If found liable, Cardi B could face financial penalties, though the scope of any award would be determined in the trial’s second phase.