Judge to receive Cardi B's medical records in “highly offensive” STD libel lawsuit
A judge is set to receive access to Cardi B‘s medical records as the rapper sues a YouTube blogger for allegedly spreading “vile” rumours about her carrying STDs.
The rapper’s lawsuit alleges that blogger Latasha Kebe spread “false” rumours about Cardi having herpes and HPV in 2018 and early 2019.
Cardi claims that Kebe ran a “malicious campaign” to taint her reputation, making what Cardi calls “highly offensive” claims that the rapper cheated on husband Offset, had herpes and HPV, worked as a prostitute and used cocaine.
On Monday (November 22), U.S. District Judge William Ray ruled that the Centre for Women’s Pelvic Health in Los Angeles were to send him “any and all medical records” for Cardi B, “related solely to [her] testing for herpes and HPV” (via Rolling Stone).
“My client does not have HPV and herpes,” Cardi’s lawyer told Rolling Stone, adding: “Two of the defamatory statements at issue are the vile, false, and highly offensive statements by the defendant that my client has herpes and HPV, and we provided these [STD testing] records 14 months ago in support of my client’s claims.”
Cardi’s lawsuit, which is set to head to trial on January 5, added: “None of the aforementioned statements about plaintiff are true. Plaintiff was never a prostitute or a user of cocaine. Plaintiff has never, and does not now, have herpes, nor has she had herpes outbreaks on her mouth.”
Kebe’s lawyer Sadeer Sabbak responded in a statement to Rolling Stone, saying: “We have no comment about the order for plaintiff’s medical records, specifically. We are continuing to prepare for jury trial. Ms. Kebe is looking forward to finally having this matter resolved.”
Cardi is currently involved in another lawsuit regarding an old album cover of hers. The rapper was sued late last year by Kevin Brophy Jr., who alleged that Cardi used his distinctive back tattoo on the cover of her 2016 debut mixtape ‘Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1’ without his permission.
Ahead of the scheduled trial in September, Cardi made a declaration to a court saying she needed to avoid risky travel, and, as a result, successfully had her trial (which would require her to travel to Southern California) postponed to February 2022.
She was then criticised for subsequently travelling to Paris in early October for Fashion Week. Cardi defended that decision by arguing that the “important” and “brief” work opportunity in Paris was not comparable to the nearly month-long stay in California that would be required for the trial, and a judge recently ruled that she did not “mislead” the court by taking the trip.
