Cardi B Sued For $5 Million Over Humiliating Man With Racy Mixtape

Cardi B was accused of plagiarism by Kevin Michael Brophy back in 2017. The man claimed that Cardi stole his back tattoo and caused him mental anguish. Opening statements were made by the attorney for A self-described family man with a distinguishing back tattoo who felt embarrassed after Cardi B allegedly used his likeness for the sexually suggestive mixtape cover art.

Kevin Michael Brophy is suing the Grammy-winning singer in federal court in Southern California for $5 million in copyright infringement. According to Brophy’s attorneys, the 2016 piece of art caused him distress and interrupted his life. A. Barry Cappello, the attorney for Brophy, said that a back tattoo that has been shown in tattoo magazines was applied to the male model for the mixtape cover using photo-editing software.

In the background of the photo, a tattooed man is seen with his head wedged between the rapper’s knees. No one can make out the man’s face. Cardi B is disputing the accusations and said an artist utilized only a “small percentage” of the tattoos without her permission.

Cardi B is scheduled to testify during the trial. She had previously claimed that Timm Gooden’s cover art, which featured Brophy’s likeness, was a transformative fair use. Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, listened from the defense table as Cappello told the jury that “their life has been disrupted.” According to AP News, Brophy and his wife, Lindsay Michelle Brophy, were both disturbed by the image and that she at first doubted her husband’s identity when she saw him shown in the cover art.

For me, it was something I took a lot of pride in. Now, that image feels devalued. I feel robbed. I feel completely disregarded. There are a lot of things I would like to be spending time on. But the only way to get this removed was to come here to this courtroom.

Brody claimed that his back tattoo, which depicts a tiger battling a serpent, was previously thought to be a “Michelangelo piece” but has subsequently turned “raunchy and ugly.” Defense documents have noted that the photographer’s model was Black while Brophy is White. The mixtape image and Brophy, according to Cardi B’s attorney Peter Anderson, are unrelated. He claimed that in contrast to Brophy, the model had no neck tattoos.

Cardi B was sentenced to 15 days of community service after she entered a guilty plea to a criminal case involving two fights that took place in New York City strip clubs last month. The rapper was given $1.25 million earlier this year in a defamation lawsuit against a celebrity news blogger who falsely claimed in videos that she used cocaine, had herpes, and engaged in prostitution. Stay tuned to Thirsty for the latest updates.

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