Cardi B’s $4 million defamation lawsuit has forced blogger Tasha K to declare bankruptcy.
According to The Neighborhood Talk, Tasha K (real name Latasha Transrina Kebe) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week after a judge ordered her to pay nearly $4 million in defamation damages to Cardi.
The Grammy-winning rapper sued the blogger back in 2019 following what she believed was a malicious smear campaign involving several false statements about her, including accusing her of having herpes, using a beer bottle as a sex toy when she was an exotic dancer, working as a prostitute and abusing cocaine.
Bardi was awarded more than $2.5 million in damages and another $1.3 million in legal fees incurred by the rapper when a jury sided with her last January. Per her Chapter 11 filing, though, Tasha lists having only $95 in her Chase Bank account.
A total of her personal property including purses, cars, clothes, engagement ring, and business-related properties all equaled $58,595.56. She currently is not being evicted from her home.
Tasha K attempted to appeal the decision, but a judge decided to uphold the verdict in March. Cardi admitted the case had led to some mental health issues, telling the jury: “I felt extremely suicidal. I felt defeated and depressed and I didn’t want to sleep with my husband… Only an evil person could do that shit.”
Tasha reportedly admitted she knowingly published lies about the “WAP” rapper because it benefited her YouTube platform’s business interests.
“Defendant Latasha Kebe asks for a new trial, saying that there was insufficient evidence for the jury verdict against her,” the court wrote in March. “But as she all but admits, she didn’t make either of the required post-verdict motions in the district court.
“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.”
Cardi’s lawyers, Lisa Moore and Andrew Pequignot, said they were thrilled with the decision.
“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,” they said in a statement.
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