A civil lawsuit against Cardi B over a 2018 altercation has become a viral social media phenomenon. The bizarre trial has captured the internet’s attention with its unexpected focus on the rapper’s hair and nails.
August 29, 2025: Civil lawsuit against global superstar Cardi B has unexpectedly become one of the most talked-about celebrity trials in recent memory, as clips from her courtroom testimony go viral for their bizarre and often hilarious exchanges.
The trial, centered on a 2018 altercation, has shifted from a legal proceeding into a social media spectacle, largely due to a lawyer’s focus on the rapper’s wigs and acrylic nails.
The 32-year-old rapper, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, is facing a lawsuit from security guard Emani Ellis, who alleges Cardi assaulted her with a three-inch fingernail and spat on her outside a Beverly Hills doctor’s office in 2018. Cardi, who was pregnant at the time, has flatly denied the claims. “I didn’t touch her,” she told the jury. “It was like a verbal fight, but it didn’t get physical at all.”
However, it was the line of questioning from Ellis’s lawyer, Ron Rosen, that has captured the internet’s attention. Videos show Rosen grilling Cardi on everything from her ever-changing hairstyles to the exact length of her acrylic nails from seven years ago. In one viral clip, Rosen asked, “Yesterday you had black hair, short hair. Today it’s blonde and long. Which one is your real hair? Or are they both real?” Cardi B, laughing, calmly responded, “They’re wigs.”
The questioning continued with a bizarre focus on her nails. Rosen asked her to hold up her hands for the jury and pressed her for an estimate on their length. Cardi B deadpanned that her current nails are fake, rounded, and not sharp, insisting they were not capable of causing the alleged injury.
On day three of the trial, Cardi B conceded that she and Ellis went “chest-to-chest” during the heated argument but doubled down on her claim that no physical contact occurred. Her testimony was supported by Dr. David Finke, the gynecologist at the center of the visit, who testified that he did not recall Cardi sporting any dramatic three-inch nails on the day of the alleged incident.
As the trial continues, clips of the animated and witty exchanges continue to dominate social media platforms. The civil suit, which is reportedly for $24 million, has become a comedy show for millions of online viewers, proving that when Cardi B takes the witness stand, the world is always watching—and laughing.