Cardi B’s mixtape cover art accuser requests a new trial and claims he lost the initial case due to courtroom “theatrics.”
In 2017, body art model Kevin Brophy Jr. filed a lawsuit against Cardi, claiming she used his back tattoos without permission for her 2016 mixtape ‘Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1.”
However, in October 2022, a jury sided with Cardi leaving Brophy upset with the verdict.
Last month, Brophy attempted to overturn the ruling but District Judge Cormac J. Carney said the request was too late and lacked merit.
Nevertheless, Brophy didn’t give up and requested a new trial this past week. According to Billboard, Brophy wants another chance to prove Cardi “humiliated” him. He also claims Cardi committed “misconduct” after engaging in a heated exchange with his legal representative while on the witness stand.
“[Cardi B] repeatedly engaged in theatrics, refused to answer basic questions, impermissibly disclosed privileged and confidential settlement communications, and generally acted with total disregard and disrespect for the jury’s time and formal nature of court proceedings,” Brophy’s lawyers said.
Brophy’s new filing comes just after Carney demanded the model to start paying Cardi’s attorney fees immediately. Carney says the reason why the court sided with Cardi was because Brophy failed to submit a Rule 50 motion before the case.
“The untimeliness of Brophy’s Rule 50 is reason enough to deny it, Carney wrote. “But the motion also wants for substantive merit. The jury had an ample basis for its verdict. For example, the jury could have reasonably concluded that the back tattoo on the model on the mixtape cover at issue in this suit was not sufficiently identifiable with Brophy to constitute misappropriation of his likeness or depiction in a false light. Because the model’s face is not visible, identification based on facial appearance is impossible.”
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