Cardi B Set To Testify In Person In $5 Million Cover Art Lawsuit + Judge Over Case Says ‘It’s Showtime’ While Speaking On The Suit

Cardi B is set to testify in person in a $ 5 million lawsuit over the artwork on her 2016 mixtape, ‘Gangsta B*tch Music Vol. 1’.

As previously reported, a man named Kevin Brophy Jr. filed a lawsuit against Cardi B in 2020 for allegedly having his large distinctive back tattoo photoshopped onto a model’s back that is featured on the ‘Gangsta B*tch’ mixtape cover art. The artwork for the mixtape shows Cardi B sitting in what appears to be the backseat of a vehicle while drinking a beer and rubbing the head of a man who has his face in between her legs. The tattoo in question is clearly visible within the image.

Kevin Brophy Jr. says the picture appropriated his likeness in,

“a misleading, offensive, humiliating and provocatively sexual way,”

and is reportedly seeking at least $5 million in damages.

At Tuesday’s (July 18) hearing, a federal judge in Santa Ana, California, confirmed that Cardi B would be expected to testify in person in the case. According to reports, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney said,

“it’s showtime. 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…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.”

According to reports, Cardi B previously has claimed that Brophy’s tattoo art was superimposed without her knowledge on the back of a male model who posed with her for the photo. Cardi B went on to argue that the image is not of the same person.

Court documents 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.”

On Monday (July 18), lawyers for Kevin Brophy reportedly asked  Judge Carney to amend his statement of the case. The edited statement now reads:

“Plaintiff alleges that he did not and would not consent to defendants’ use of his likeness, and that he is being portrayed in an offensive manner depicting sexual activity with Cardi B.”

Cardi B’s lawyer Alan Dowling also asked the judge for an edit to her statement. Now, according to Cardi, Brophy

“is not the man depicted in the image, that the image does not portray actual sexual activity (and) that defendants’ use of his tattoo design did not show plaintiff in a false light or would be highly offensive to a reasonable person in plaintiff’s position.”

Cardi B – thejasminebrand

Kevin Brophy claims that he has been faced with “uncomfortable comments, questions, and ridicule from community members and family,” regarding the image.

Brophy adds:

“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 trial is set to begin on August 3.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!

[VIA]