Cardi B brought both style, strong language, some laughter and a variety of facial expressions to a Los Angeles courtroom on Wednesday (August 27) as her civil trial over an alleged 2018 assault continued with emotional testimony and a judge’s plea to “bring the temperature down.”

The Grammy-winning rapper arrived for Day 3 of the proceedings in Alhambra, California, wearing long jet-black hair—her third hairstyle in as many days.

But it wasn’t just her look that turned heads.

While testifying, Cardi described the tense moment she realized security guard Emani Ellis was allegedly filming her without consent.

“The camera was facing me. When I was walking and she was behind me, and then she said, ‘Oh my God, y’all, Cardi B. Cardi B, y’all.’ I looked back, and the camera was, like, right there. Like, practically on her chest type stuff. I’m like, yo, why you recording me?”

The rapper, who was secretly pregnant at the time, said she felt vulnerable and cornered.

“I said, b####, get the f### out of my face. Why are you in my face? Why are you recording me? Ain’t you supposed to be security?”

Cardi said Ellis escalated the situation by yelling, “You’re gonna get the f### out of my building. I can do whatever the f### I want,” and dismissing her celebrity status with, “I don’t give a f### who you are.”

As the questioning grew tense between Cardi and Ellis’s attorney, the judge was compelled to intervene.

“Why don’t we just take the temperature down a little bit. If you have actual questions to ask her, please do so. It’s not the time to argue with her,” the judge said.

Cardi also described how her pregnancy made her feel physically restricted during the incident.

“When you’re pregnant, you’re very disabled. You want me to tell you things I can’t do?” she said, prompting laughter throughout the courtroom.

Ellis’ lawsuit, filed in 2020, accuses Cardi B of scratching her face with long nails, spitting on her and causing emotional distress.

Cardi denied the claims, stating that the confrontation never escalated into physical violence. “We’re literally screaming at each other,” she testified. “I didn’t touch her. It was like a verbal fight, but it didn’t get physical at all.”

The rapper emphasized that her nails at the time were not sharp and there was no way she could have left scars on Ellis’ face.

“The shape that I had that week, it wasn’t like a shape that is, like, harming. It was like a square coffin shape. So, it didn’t have, like, no points or, like, sharp edges and stuff like that,” Cardi B testified.

Cardi B left a Los Angeles courtroom momentarily speechless Tuesday (August 26) when her ever-changing hairstyles and extra-long nails became the unexpected focus of her civil assault trial testimony.

After arriving in court with a sleek black pixie wig on Monday, the rapper showed up Tuesday in a long blonde number, prompting confusion from the plaintiff’s attorney during cross-examination.

“On the date of the incident, did you have black hair, blonde hair, or different color hair?” the attorney asked.

Cardi said she didn’t remember, but confirmed she was wearing a hoodie.

The attorney pressed further, pointing out the contrast between her two court appearances.

“Yesterday you had black hair, short hair,” he said. “Today it’s blonde and long. Which one is your real hair? Or are they both real?”

Cardi let out a laugh before responding, “They’re wigs.”

“Okay. Sorry, I didn’t know that. It’s a good wig today then,” the attorney replied.

The questioning then shifted to Cardi’s fingernails, with the attorney asking her to show them to the court.

“How long are those fingernails?” he asked, before diving into a detailed inquiry about their shape and style. Cardi responded with a breakdown of her nail habits and maintenance routine.

The line of questioning appeared to suggest that Cardi’s acrylic nails may have played a role in the alleged 2018 altercation at a Beverly Hills OB-GYN office, where former security guard Emani Ellis claims she was physically attacked.

Ellis alleges Cardi B scratched her cheek with her nails, spat on her, used racial slurs, body-shamed her, jabbed a finger in her face and ordered another guard to restrain her. She says the incident left her with emotional distress, including PTSD, anxiety, depression and insomnia.

Cardi has denied all claims of physical violence, maintaining that Ellis was the aggressor and tried to film her without consent during a private medical visit.

On the stand, Cardi admitted to yelling at Ellis but stood firm that it was strictly a “verbal altercation.”

The trial continues this week in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Cardi B flat-out denied ever laying a hand on security guard Emani Ellis during her testimony Tuesday (August 26) in a Los Angeles courtroom, pushing back against claims she assaulted Ellis during a heated moment at an OB/GYN office in 2018.

The Bronx-born rapper, who was four months pregnant at the time, told the court the confrontation never turned physical and described the situation as “extremely stressful.”

She said she was trying to keep her pregnancy private and felt her personal space was being violated.

“[It was] a verbal altercation. She didn’t hit me. I didn’t hit her. There was no touch. So to me it wasn’t no incident,” Cardi told the court.

She admitted to calling Ellis a “b####” but firmly denied spitting on her, using racial slurs or swinging at her.

“Absolutely not,” she said when asked if she spat on Ellis.

The Grammy winner said the dispute started when she noticed Ellis filming her as she entered the medical office.

She said she confronted Ellis directly, asking, “Yo, why are you recording me?” According to Cardi, Ellis responded, “Cuz I can,” and continued following her.

“Now she’s like in front of me where I can’t even really maneuver,” Cardi said. “And I’m like, ‘Ain’t you supposed to be security? Like you grouped out. You recording me. Now you following me. Like back up.’ And she’s like, ‘I could do what I want.'”

Cardi said the two ended up “chest to chest” as the argument escalated. “I’m thinking to myself like this girl is big. She’s big. She got b######## boots on,” she said, adding that they were “arguing and cursing” before a receptionist stepped in.

That’s when, according to Cardi, Ellis began loudly accusing her of hitting her.

Ellis’s lawsuit paints a much different picture. She claims Cardi B struck her in the face, scratched her cheek with long nails, and ordered another guard to restrain her.

She also accuses the rapper of spitting, hurling insults, using racial slurs, and mocking her appearance and job.

Ellis says the incident left her with emotional trauma, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and insomnia. She is suing for assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and false imprisonment.

The trial continues this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court.