Cardi B again came out victorious in her ongoing defamation case with a blogger. A Federal Appeals Court in Atlanta has affirmed a trial court ruling and a $4 million defamation verdict against YouTuber Tasha K on Tuesday. Tasha K had sought the appeal’s court adjudication to vacate the judgement, which was handed down after she was found liable for defamation regarding statements made about the Bronx rappers, which included damaging statements about drugs, STDS, and claims about prostitution.
A stubborn Tasha K has been using legal means to delay paying over the $4 million judgment to the rapper, and in her appeal case, she argued that Cardi B’s superstar influence caused the case to lean in her favor.
The Appeals Court released a five-page judgment responding to the YouTuber’s claim that there was a “very lopsided presentation of evidence to the jury,” noting that Tasha K, whose real name is Latasha Kebe, failed to adequately defend her case.
“Defendant Latasha Kebe asks for a new trial, saying that there was insufficient evidence for the jury verdict against her,” the appeals court wrote. “But as she all but admits, she didn’t make either of the required post-verdict motions in the district court,” the court said.
The court also responded to arguments that the trial judge did not allow evidence that might have helped Tasha’s case.
“She never tells us where in the 5500-page record the district court’s alleged errors can be found….Because Kebe’s brief falls well short of what we require, she has abandoned this argument,” the court says.
On Tuesday, Tasha K also shared that she lost the case and seemed to have apologized to the rapper, captioning her post conceding defeat- “talk about a check my mouth can’t cash.”
In the apology, she wrote, “Damn Winos! [crying emoji] we lost the appeal…against Cardi B sad day… but I’m gonna be alright…I appreciate all your love & support. Throughout this fight.”
She continued, “Today we throw in the white flag… what happened will never happen again.. To Cardi & her team, I apologize sincere. We Live & Learn.”
Cardi B was represented by attorneys Lisa Moore and Andrew Pequignot, who reacted to the news.
“We’re obviously pleased that the Eleventh Circuit has affirmed the jury’s unanimous and important verdict, which we believe was more than amply supported by the evidence presented in the case,” Billboard quoted a joint statement from the lawyers.
Cardi B sued Tasha in 2019 over several YouTube videos where she made defamatory statements about Cardi B’s health and lifestyle and even acted as a stripper, which the rapper denied.
Despite efforts to get the videos taken down, Tasha K has continued to malign the rapper. Last year, a jury found her liable for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and the judge ordered that she pay the Bronx rapper $2.5 million in damages and another $1.3 million in attorney’s costs.
She’s also restrained from having the defamatory videos on her YouTube account.
Since then, Cardi B’s lawyers have been trying to enforce the judgement and have filed several orders since the trial court’s ruling to freeze Tasha’s bank accounts and to enforce garnishing of her accounts and earnings from YouTube.
