On the first day of Cardi B’s civil trial in Los Angeles, tensions flared as both she and plaintiff Emani Ellis—formerly a security guard—presented sharply contrasting accounts of a 2018 hallway encounter at a Beverly Hills medical office. Ellis, who is suing for $24 million, claimed the rapper spat on her, used racial slurs, and scratched her face with a long fingernail during a heated confrontation sparked by Cardi allegedly being filmed without consent. Cardi, then four months pregnant, denied any physical contact, insisting the dispute was purely verbal and driven by concern for her privacy and safety. The courtroom buzzed with viral moments, including Cardi’s animated testimony, her wig changes, and her blunt exchanges with Ellis’s attorney, setting the tone for a trial steeped in celebrity spectacle and emotional stakes.