Cardi B has made her intentions official—she refuses to sully her 2019 BET Awards Album of the Year win with a little pesky thing called jail. Well, at least, that’s what she hopes…and pleads.
According to Billboard, the Invasion of Privacy rapper appeared in court on June 25 for an arraignment hearing where she pleaded not guilty to new felony charges in connection with a 2018 strip club fight involving a bartender and another co-worker. She is facing two felony counts of attempted assault as well as misdemeanor charges, including harassment, reckless endangerment, criminal solicitation and conspiracy. The two new charges were initially misdemeanor charges, which Cardi rejected any plea deals for.
As The Glow Up Managing Editor Maiysha Kai noted in a recent report:
Despite being indicted by a grand jury in Queens on Friday on multiple felony charges stemming from a 2018 strip club altercation, as Page Six reports, Cardi (born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar) remained characteristically confident as she performed for the BET Experience audience on Saturday in Los Angeles.
“I ain’t going to jail!” the eventual winner for Album of the Year—the first female rapper to do so at the BET Awards—reportedly told the crowd. “Fuck you mean? I ain’t going to jail, I got a daughter!”
“Not guilty, sir, Honor,” the rapper told the state court judge at her appearance on Tuesday. Two other defendants, who were also allegedly involved in the altercation, pleaded not guilty to similar charges.
The next court date will be September 9, although Cardi isn’t required to appear.