Cardi B takes to the stand in mixtape artwork trial
completemusicupdate.comThere were fiery exchanges when Cardi B took to the stand yesterday in the ongoing court case over the artwork to her 2016 mixtape ‘Gangsta Bitch Music Vol 1’.The rapper – real name Belcalis Almánzar – is fighting a lawsuit filed by Kevin Brophy.
A photo of his distinctive tattoo was Photoshopped onto the cover of the 2016 mixtape, so that it appeared on the back of a man who was positioned to look like he was performing oral sex on the rapper.Brophy says that the unauthorised use of the tattoo image means people assume it is him who appears in the photo, and – given the explicit nature of the artwork – that has resulted in him facing frequent “uncomfortable comments, questions, and ridicule from community members and family”.
In his lawsuit he claims that Almánzar and her team infringed his so called publicity rights.On Tuesday, Brophy told the court that the mixtape artwork had left him “distressed” and “ashamed”, and “anxious” that his two children will one day see the image.
Meanwhile, his lawyer, A Barry Cappello, said that Almánzar had repeatedly ignored cease and desist demands from his client, who had requested that she stop using the image that contained his tattoo.But in court yesterday, Almánzar argued that Brophy wasn’t interested in stopping the use of the artwork, he just saw an easy pay day.
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