Cardi B pleads guilty to assault and reckless endangerment over 2018 strip club fight
Cardi B owned up to two misdemeanor charges Thursday that stemmed from an August 2018 altercation with two sisters who were bartenders at a strip club in Queens, N.Y.
The rapper — real name Belcalis Almánzar — pleaded guilty to assault in the third degree and reckless endangerment in the second degree, according to a spokesperson for the Queens district attorney’s office. She was sentenced to 15 days of community service, a three-year full order of protection for the two victims and court fees.
“Everyday the sun won’t shine, but that’s why I love tomorrow,” the 29-year-old performer wrote Thursday on Instagram, captioning a photo of herself arriving at the courthouse. In comments on the post, she was complimented on her “movie star look,” which included a form-fitting white dress, sleek copper hair and extra-long glamour nails.
Queens Dist. Atty. Melinda Katz was a bit more formal, saying in a statement, “No one is above the law. In pleading guilty today, Ms. Belcalis Almánzar and two co-defendants have accepted responsibility for their actions. This Office is satisfied with the resolution, which includes appropriate community service.”
Cardi B’s new song says she “don’t need more press,” but that’s exactly what she got after appearing in court Friday.
The 2018 fight reportedly broke out because the “WAP” rapper suspected that one of the women was sleeping with her husband, the rapper Offset, who was performing with his group Migos at the Angels Strip Club that night. Chairs, bottles and hookah pipes were thrown, police said at the time, causing minor injuries to that woman and another employee of the club. Cardi B reportedly had at least nine other people in her entourage at the club, and all took off after the 3 a.m. melee.
Once she was identified by a strip club employee as a suspect in the fight, Cardi B turned herself in to police.
In October 2018, a local New York news channel reported that surveillance video showed the rapper throwing an ice bucket at the two women. Cardi B had previously confronted the two in Atlanta in June 2018, the station said.
In May 2019, Cardi B rejected a plea deal that would have given her a conditional discharge on what were initially misdemeanor counts. After she nixed the deal, her case was sent to a grand jury, which subsequently charged her with two felony counts of attempted assault and various misdemeanor charges including harassment, criminal solicitation, conspiracy and reckless endangerment.
Those charges were later reduced to the two misdemeanors to which the rapper pleaded guilty this week. Ten additional counts against the rapper were dismissed Thursday, People reported.
Since the altercation, Cardi B and Offset — real name Kiari Kendrell Cephus — became parents to son Wave Set, 1. Daughter Kulture Kiari, 4, was an infant at the time.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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