Tasha K continues to seek a new trial after losing a lawsuit to Cardi B.
According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop, the vlogger claims Cardi B failed to disprove allegations regarding prostitution and HPV in their legal battle. Earlier this year, a jury found Tasha K liable of defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“[Cardi B’s] claims were based on six statements, which she alleged were Defamatory,” Tasha K’s lawyer Olga Izmaylova wrote. “However, Plaintiff failed to prove, with clear and convincing evidence, that the Defendants published any of those six statements with actual malice. The gist of Plaintiff’s evidence consisted of her testimony that those six statements were not true. Meanwhile, the Defendants presented a plethora of evidence, showing the origin of each one of the six statements and proving the Defendants did not act with actual malice.”
Tasha K, whose real name is Latasha Kebe, claims a judge swayed the trial in Cardi B’s favor. Her lawyer says a judge wrongfully prevented character evidence from being presented to jurors.
“At trial, the Defendants were prohibited from presenting evidence of [Cardi B’s] character and specific instances of Plaintiff’s conduct, even though under Georgia law, when there is an assertion of damage to reputation (like in this case), Plaintiff’s character is substantively at issue,” Izmaylova wrote. “The district court’s erroneous exclusion of Plaintiff’s character evidence resulted in a very lopsided presentation of evidence to the jury. Because the jury did not get to learn the type of conduct Plaintiff engages in or who the Plaintiff truly is as a person, the jury returned a general verdict for the Plaintiff, against both Defendants.”
Izmaylova argues Cardi B never proved Tasha K published anything with actual malice. The lawyer says the vlogger provided a “plethora of evidence” citing the origins of her allegations, which included claims of prostitution and drug use.
“Ms. Kebe testified that when she said [Cardi B] was a prostitute, she believed that to be a true statement because ‘Ms. Almanzar has made various videos over the course of her career bragging about being a prostitute and having tricks,” Izmaylova wrote. “The Defendants proved that Ms. Kebe did not act with actual malice when Ms. Kebe said Plaintiff was a prostitute, so Plaintiff cannot prevail on the defamation claim with that statement.”
Tasha K’s lawyer also addressed her client publishing allegations about Cardi B having STDs.
“Ms. Kebe has never made the statement that [Cardi B] has genital herpes and no evidence of such a statement was introduced at trial,” Izmaylova wrote. “When asked whether Jones said Plaintiff had herpes, Ms. Kebe clarified ‘[c]old sores to be exact.’”
The lawyer continued, “Ms. Kebe testified that when she says Plaintiff has cold sores or herpes, she is basing that statement on the following information: the definition of cold sores as an ‘infection with the herpes simplex virus around the border of the lips; a video in which Ms. Kebe believed she heard Plaintiff admit to having cold sores; pictures of Plaintiff with cold sores on her lips; pictures of Plaintiff’s husband with cold sores on his lips; tons of tweets, dating back to 2015, stating that Plaintiff has cold sores or herpes; hearing other celebrities say that Plaintiff has cold sores or herpes; and knowing that those pictures, tweets, and statements (published long before the Jones interview) are still available to the public and that Plaintiff has never sued any of the people, who made those statements, for defamation.”
Tasha K demands a new trial, contending a jury erroneously found her liable of defamation and invasion of privacy. Her attorney says the original verdict “must be reversed in its entirety” and character evidence must be allowed if the case is tried again.
