Cardi B just secured another legal victory after crushing Tasha K in her defamation case. Now, the “Bodak Yellow” rapper is $350k richer after winning a battle over her album cover art.
A motion was filed on Monday, June 12, that ordered Kevin Michael Brophy to pay Cardi B $350,000 to cover her legal fees in his failed attempt to sue the Grammy award-winning rapper for including his giant back tattoo on the cover of her 2016 “Gangsta B*tch” mixtape cover, Billboard reports.
In addition to paying Cardi’s legal fees, Brophy also voluntarily withdraw his motion for a new trial and waive any chance at a future appeal.
“The parties now have reached an agreement avoiding the necessity of defendants’ motion for attorney’s fees and application to tax costs,” the filing stated.
The new agreement follows U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney’s December 2022 ruling that Brophy’s distinct back tattoo only played only a small role in Cardi’s cover art on an album that served “a larger visual commentary on sexual politics, via Legal Affairs and Trials.
In 2017, Brophy sued Cardi, her company Washpoppin’ Co. and her former manager Klenord “Shaft” Raphael’s company KSR Group LLC for $5 million over the cover art that shows a man performing oral sex on the rapper while she sips from a Corona in the backseat of a car.
The tattoo on the man’s back in the cover closely resembles Brophy’s real life back tattoo. While it has the exact tiger and serpent from Brophy’s tattoo, it doesn’t include the waves, rose petals or the phrase “Born to Lose” like included on Brophy’s back tat.
Cardi argued the imposed back tattoo on her album cover was just art that’s protected by the First Amendment. In Oct 2022, a jury sided with Cardi. When Brophy’s lawyers attempted to overturn the ruling, that’s when Judge Cormac County issued the final ruling.
“Brophy’s tattoo was but one tattoo on the back of the model, who was himself but one part of a suggestive portrayal of a man with his head between Cardi B’s legs while she was in the backseat of a vehicle and drank an alcoholic beverage,” the judge wrote.
“The purpose, Cardi B testified, was to show her in control, reversing traditional gender roles.”
Now after winning millions from Tasha K, which remains on hold amid the YouTuber’s bankruptcy filing, Cardi is set to receive a few hundred thousand from another lawsuit.