Cardi B to testify over $5million cover art lawsuit case

Cardi B is set to testify in a $5 million cover art lawsuit relating to her 2016 mixtape, Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1.

The case was brought forward after it was alleged Cardi B photoshopped Kevin Brophy Jr’s back tattoo onto someone else’s body without his permission. He said this caused a likeness which was “misleading, offensive, humiliating and provocatively sexual way.”

At a hearing on July 18th, a federal judge in Santa Ana, California, confirmed Cardi would need to testify in person. U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney revealed “it’s showtime” before adding: “I don’t think this case is a complex case, but I think it’s a very interesting case, and it’s one I think the jurors would enjoy.”

The judge continued: “I’d like them [the jurors] to know this is the case before they think about whether they want to get off the case or not.”

Previously, Brophy Jr. claimed in 2017 that he suffered “distress and humiliation” over the mixtape cover, which he claims shows his unique back tattoos on a faceless man with his head between Cardi’s legs.

Cardi previously suggested Brophy’s tattoo art was superimposed without her knowledge and said it’s clear that it’s a different person to Brophy in the image.

Case filings state: “The neck tattoo is removed; the arm is repositioned; the lighting and shadowing is manipulated to fit the interior of the limousine; the image is tilted to match the forward-leaning posture of the model’s body; the image is tinted, shaded, and re-coloured to fit the overall scheme of the underlying photo used in the (cover image); and the periphery fades to black.”

Meanwhile, Brophy’s lawsuit says: “His family dynamic has been adversely affected, and his work and professional life have been unalterably damaged by his having to explain this unconsented-to, offensive, and malicious use of his image.”

The case will be heard in court on August 3rd.