Cardi B pardoned in lawsuit over suggestive mixtape artwork

The jury sided with Cardi B in a copyright infringement case involving a man who claims the Grammy-winning rapper abused his back tattoo as sexually suggestive cover art for her 2016 mixtape .

A federal jury in Santa Ana, California, ruled that Kevin Michael Brophy did not prove Cardi B misappropriated his likeness.

After the jury chairwoman read the verdict, the rapper looked happy as she hugged her lawyer.

Cardi B thanked jurors, admitting she was “very nervous” before hearing the verdict.

She was surrounded by several reporters, photographers and more than 40 high school students chanting her name.

A fan held a sign and asked if she could take him to his homecoming dance, to which she replied: “Yes, I’ll see what I can do.”

“I told myself that if I won, I would scold Mr. Brophy. But I didn’t want to scold him,” she said.

In court, Cardi B had a brief but cordial conversation with Mr Brophy and shook hands.

Mr Brophy filed the lawsuit a year after the rapper’s 2016 mixtape was released.

He described himself as a “family man with underage children” and said he was “suffered and humiliated” by the artwork – which shows a tattooed man from behind with his head tucked between the rapper’s legs, Sitting in a limousine.

Can’t see the man’s face.

Mr Brophy’s lawyer A Barry Cappello said photo editing software was used to place the back tattoo that appeared in a tattoo magazine on the male model on the cover of the mixtape.

But Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, challenged the allegations in testimony earlier this week – and had such a heated exchange with Mr Capello, So much so that U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney temporarily halted the trial.

Cardi B said she felt Mr Brophy suffered no consequences for the artwork.

She said Mr Brophy had been harassing her legally for five years – even once saying she had missed her youngest child’s “first step” because of the trial.

Cardi B gave clear answers to several of Mr. Cappello’s questions.

Lawyers had asked her to calm down, but she strongly disputed his claim that she knew the changed image.

Their heated exchange prompted a judge to throw jurors out of the Santa Ana courtroom and tell both sides he was considering a false trial.

Cardi B said an artist used only a “small portion” of the tattoo without her knowledge.

She has previously said that the cover art by Tim Gooden is a transformative fair use of Mr Brophy’s portrait.

Mr Capello said Mr Gooden was paid $50 (£44) to create a design but was told to look for another tattoo after he handed in a first draft.

He said Mr Gooden googled “back tattoo” before finding an image and pasting it on the cover.

Cardi B’s lawyer Peter Anderson said Mr Brophy had nothing to do with the mixtape images, noting that the model did not have a neck tattoo – which Mr Brophy did.

“It’s not the back of your client,” Cardi B said of the photo, which features a black model. Mr. Brophy is white.

The rapper noted that she posted a photo of a “famous Canadian model” on her social media.

“To me, it doesn’t look like his back at all. The tattoo is modified and protected by the First Amendment.”

Cardi B said that image did not prevent Mr Brophy from working for a popular surfing and skateboarding clothing brand or his ability to travel the world in search of opportunities.

“He wasn’t fired,” the rapper said, suggesting that the mixtape wasn’t a lucrative one for her.

“He’s not divorced. How did he suffer? He still has this job at the surf shop. Please tell me how he suffers.”

Last month, Cardi B pleaded guilty to a criminal case stemming from two New York City strip club fights that required her to perform 15 days of community service.

Earlier this year, the rapper was awarded $1.25m (£1.1m) in a defamation lawsuit against a celebrity news blogger who made false claims that she used cocaine, contracted herpes and engaged in Videos of prostitution activities.