ATLANTA
A federal jury in Atlanta has awarded $1.25 million to Cardi B in a defamation lawsuit against a celebrity news blogger who she says posted videos falsely stating the Grammy-winning rapper used cocaine, had contracted herpes and engaged in prostitution.
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The jury on Monday found Latasha Kebe, known online as Tasha K, and a company she owns liable for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress against the rapper, whose given name is Belcalis Almanzar. Kebe’s lawyers said in an email Tuesday that they disagree with the verdict and will file an appeal.
The jury awarded Cardi B $1 million in general damages for pain and suffering and/or reputational injury and $250,000 in medical expenses. Kebe, who lives in the Atlanta area, produces, hosts and publishes a YouTube channel called unWinewithTashaK.
Kebe began targeting Cardi B in early 2018, making “degrading and harassing statements” about her, the lawsuit says. On Sept. 19, 2018 Kebe published a video of an interview she did with a woman who said she’d known Cardi B before her music career. The video includes the “false, malicious and defamatory” statements that Cardi B was a prostitute, has herpes and had suffered outbreaks on her mouth, and used cocaine.
