Cardi B’s Lawyers Call Security Guard’s Request for New Trial ‘Entirely Frivolous’
Cardi B’s legal team is pushing back against an effort to reopen her recently settled civil case, calling the move “absurd” and “entirely frivolous.” The security guard who accused the rapper of assaulting her outside a Beverly Hills doctor’s office has requested a new trial, but Cardi B’s attorneys say the motion is baseless and relies on “complete fiction.”
The response, filed late Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, came from attorneys Peter Anderson and Lisa F. Moore, who represent the Grammy-winning artist, legally known as Belcalis Almánzar. In their filing, they wrote that plaintiff Emani Ellis “fails to establish any permitted grounds” for a new trial and that her claims are “patently false.”
“Speculation, knowingly false statements, and inaction are not grounds for a new trial,” the lawyers wrote, urging the court to dismiss the motion.
Ellis' attorney, Ron Rosen Janfaza, did not issue an official statement. His filing, submitted Oct. 31, alleged that procedural errors and outside influence may have compromised the fairness of the original trial, which ended swiftly in Cardi B’s favor.
In his motion, Rosen Janfaza claimed his client deserved a retrial due to supposed “judicial errors” and possible jury misconduct. He alleged that jurors could have been exposed to a brief viral moment outside the courthouse on Sept. 2, when a gossip blogger shouted personal questions at Cardi B about her relationship and pregnancy. Cardi B responded by throwing a pen toward the ground in frustration, an incident caught on video.
Rosen Janfaza suggested that jurors who witnessed this scene could have been “intimidated,” arguing that the event warranted further investigation.
Cardi B’s attorneys dismissed the claim as unfounded. They noted that no evidence suggests any jurors were present outside the courthouse at the time and that, regardless, jurors were repeatedly instructed to consider only the evidence presented at trial.
“If Mr. Rosen Janfaza believed a juror might have been standing with the press, he could have requested the court issue another instruction or question the jurors about what they saw during the lunch break,” the response stated. “He did neither, presumably because there was no reason to think any jurors were outside the courthouse.”
The trial concluded on Sept. 2, when jurors took less than an hour to reject Ellis’ claims that Cardi B assaulted her during a 2018 altercation outside a Beverly Hills medical office. Ellis alleged the rapper struck her, leaving a scratch on her left cheek.
Both sides agreed that a verbal confrontation occurred after Cardi B (then pregnant with her first child with rapper Offset) believed Ellis was secretly filming her outside her obstetrician’s office. Cardi B testified that she considered the intrusion a violation of privacy surrounding something “sacred.”
Jurors ultimately sided with Cardi B, finding Ellis’ version of events unsupported by evidence and corroborated testimony.
In his request for a retrial, Rosen Janfaza also accused Cardi B of withholding the identities of two key witnesses, Dr. David Finke and receptionist Tierra Malcolm, who intervened during the altercation and testified in Cardi B’s defense.
Both witnesses told jurors they saw Ellis as the aggressor, with a phone in hand, appearing to pursue Cardi B. Malcolm further testified that Ellis later called her to ask for help with a claim against the rapper, a request Malcolm refused.
Cardi B’s lawyers countered that Ellis’ team had known the witnesses’ identities all along. “[It] is undisputed that defendant’s counsel learned of the doctor’s name by repeatedly going office-to-office in his building,” they wrote. “Importantly, plaintiff knew all along the identity of the doctor and his receptionist who intervened.”
The defense also emphasized that Cardi B’s visit to the office had been a one-time precautionary appointment while traveling in Los Angeles, and that she initially could not recall the doctor’s name due to the years that had passed since.
A hearing on Ellis’ motion for a new trial is scheduled for Dec. 5. The outcome will determine whether Cardi B’s courtroom victory remains final or the case reopens.
Following her win in September, Cardi B marked the occasion in typically self-aware fashion, releasing a limited “Courtroom Edition” version of her sophomore album Am I the Drama?, complete with cover art showcasing her viral trial-day looks and hairstyles.
For now, her legal team appears confident the latest challenge will go nowhere.
