Cardi B just scored another legal win that makes her courtroom victory even sweeter.
Los Angeles Judge Ian Fusselman hit security guard lawyer Ron Rosen Janfaza with a $1,500 fine on Wednesday for asking the rapper about gang ties during the trial. The judge called it an “intentional violation” of court orders, according to Rolling Stone.
Janfaza represented Emani Ellis in her failed assault lawsuit against Cardi. But he crossed the line when he asked the star on the witness stand: “Do you have any affiliation at this time with a gang?”
The judge had already banned any mention of Cardi’s past, including her well-documented Bloods involvement from her South Bronx days.
Janfaza knew the rules but asked anyway.
“It was no accident. It was not the result of inexperience or stress,” Judge Fusselman wrote in his ruling. “It was a knowing and intentional violation of the court’s ruling.”
Janfaza tried every excuse in the book. He claimed his office manager inserted the question into his outline. He said he was inexperienced and sleep-deprived. He even argued he’d made worse mistakes in other trials without facing punishment.
The judge wasn’t buying any of it. He called Janfaza’s explanations “inconsistent and contradictory.” This penalty caps off a brutal stretch of litigation for Ellis and her legal team.
Back in September, a jury took less than an hour to reject her assault claims against Cardi. The case centered on a 2018 incident at a Beverly Hills gynecologist’s office when Cardi was four months pregnant.
Ellis claimed Cardi cursed, spat at her and scratched her cheek with acrylic nails, requiring plastic surgery. But Cardi testified she never touched Ellis and was only upset because the guard was recording her while she tried to keep her pregnancy secret.
The jury saw photos of Cardi’s square nails from that week – less than an inch long and incapable of causing the alleged damage. After losing at trial, Ellis tried for a new trial in December. She claimed Cardi “intimidated” jurors by throwing a pen at a reporter outside court.
Judge Fusselman shut that down too, calling the argument “unpersuasive.”
Cardi warned against future “frivolous” lawsuits on the courthouse steps after her September victory.
“I work hard for my money for my kids and for people I take care of, so don’t you ever think that you gonna sue me, and I’m just gonna settle and just give you my money,” she said. “It’s not gonna happen.”
Now she’s moving forward with her career.
Cardi’s preparing for her Little Miss Drama Tour, which kicks off February 11 in Palm Desert, California. The 30-date arena tour supports her sophomore album, Am I the Drama? and runs through April 17 in Atlanta.
The tour marks her first major solo outing since 2016 and her first-ever all-arena headlining run. She’s hitting major venues like Madison Square Garden, United Center and State Farm Arena.
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