Cardi B wins $1.25 million defamation lawsuit against YouTuber

• Rapper Cardi B won her defamation lawsuit against a YouTuber on Monday.
• A federal jury found that YouTuber Latasha Kebe must pay the rapper at least $1.25 million.

A federal jury sided with rapper Cardi B in her defamation lawsuit against YouTuber Latasha Kebe on Monday, saying that Kebe must pay the Bronx native at least $1.25 million, court documents said.

Cardi B alleged in a 2019 lawsuit that Kebe, who goes by Tasha K and has 1 million subscribers on her channel unWinewithTashaK, became "obsessed" with her and ran a "malicious campaign" about her that included falsely accusing Cardi B of testing positive for herpes and having substance-abuse issues.

During the trial that began earlier in January in Georgia, both women took the stand.

The jury found Kebe liable for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentionally inflicting emotional distress. Kebe's attorneys can appeal.

Representatives for Cardi B and Kebe could not immediately be reached for comment.

The complaint said that Kebe intended to capitalize on the false information and knew that posting about Cardi B "would draw substantially more viewers to her content than she typically garners." At the time of the jury's decision, Kebe hadn't posted a video about the rapper in almost six months.

Throughout the course of the suit, Kebe countersued for $3 million, alleging that Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almánzar, had sent fans to harass her. A judge dismissed the suit saying there was "no evidence" of the claim.

According to YouTube's terms of service, the platform says it is not responsible for "the Content submitted by any user, or for the defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of any user."

Under its defamation complaint requirements, it states YouTube "will only consider legal complaints where we've been notified by the party in question or their authorized legal representative."

YouTube could not immediately be reached for comment on whether the videos would remain on the platform.

During the case, US District Judge William Ray asked the Center for Women's Pelvic Health at UCLA to send the rapper's HIV and herpes test results and medical records.

In November 2021, Ray determined the records were "not helpful" to Kebe's case and proved Cardi B right, Rolling Stone reported. As part of the verdict, Kebe was ordered to pay $250,000 in medical damages.