Cardi B Microphone Lawsuit: Claims, Damages, and Trial Date

The Cardi B microphone lawsuit is a civil case filed in Clark County, Nevada, by a woman who says the rapper hit her with a thrown microphone during a July 2023 concert at Drai’s Beachclub in Las Vegas. The plaintiff, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, sued Cardi B and the nightclub in July 2025 for assault, battery, negligence, and emotional distress.¹ A jury trial is scheduled to begin in October 2027.²

What Happened at the Concert

On July 29, 2023, Cardi B was performing “Bodak Yellow” at Drai’s Beachclub and Nightclub on the Las Vegas Strip when an audience member splashed a drink toward the stage. She responded by throwing her microphone into the crowd in the direction of the splash.³

A concertgoer told Las Vegas Metropolitan Police the microphone hit her right shoulder while she was recording the performance on her phone. She said she was in pain and planned to seek medical treatment.³ Video of the moment spread widely on social media. Separate footage circulated showing Cardi B and her DJ asking the crowd to splash water because of the heat, though the timing relative to the drink-throwing is unclear.⁴

Why There Are No Criminal Charges

The concertgoer filed a battery report with LVMPD on July 31, 2023.⁵ On August 3, 2023, police closed the case, saying in a statement that after review and consultation with the Clark County District Attorney’s Office, the matter had “insufficient evidence” and no charges would be filed.⁶

That decision closed the criminal side. The civil case is separate: a lower burden of proof, money damages rather than jail, and a different plaintiff — here, the injured woman rather than the state.

What the Lawsuit Claims

The complaint was filed July 21, 2025, in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County under case number A-25-923739-C, just before Nevada’s two-year statute of limitations on personal injury and battery claims would have expired.⁷ The plaintiff is proceeding as Jane Doe, with her attorneys citing mental health concerns and fear of public backlash. She was 26 at the time of the concert and had traveled from Cleveland, Ohio, for her first solo trip to see Cardi B perform.⁸

The suit names two defendants: Cardi B, under her legal name Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus, and Drai’s Management Group LLC.¹

Against Cardi B

The complaint pleads four causes of action. On assault, the plaintiff says she experienced “immediate apprehension of an imminent harmful contact” when the microphone was thrown “in apparent anger and without warning.” On battery, she alleges the microphone made “offensive and unconsented physical contact and caus[ed] physical injury.”⁹

The negligence claim argues Cardi B should have known a thrown microphone “presented a foreseeable risk of physical injury,” and that by encouraging concertgoers to throw water she helped create the very conditions that led to the incident.¹⁰ The emotional distress claim alleges “severe emotional distress, shock, humiliation, and physical injury,” and points to the later public auction of the microphone for roughly $99,000 as something that “further publicized the incident and exacerbated Plaintiff’s emotional distress.”⁹

Against Drai’s

The complaint says Drai’s Management Group had a duty to supervise the performance and protect attendees, and that its staff failed to intervene or de-escalate.¹¹ The suit also alleges that the venue knew or should have known Cardi B posed a risk, citing a “substantially similar altercation” the night before at the same venue, in which she allegedly threw a microphone at a DJ.¹

What the Plaintiff Wants

The suit seeks general damages of “not less than $15,000,” plus special damages for medical expenses, emotional distress, reputational harm, and economic losses. It also asks for punitive and exemplary damages and attorneys’ fees.¹ The $15,000 figure is a jurisdictional threshold routinely stated in Nevada civil filings, not a cap on what could be sought at trial.

What Each Side Is Saying

The plaintiff’s attorney, Cierra N. Norris of the C. Norris Law Group, said at a July 24, 2025 press conference that her client “was hit in the shoulder and hit in the arm. She then was thrown out of that nightclub and was turned into a viral sensation.”¹ The plaintiff, through her attorneys, said the incident had been “written off as a joke” but was in fact “a traumatic experience that has significantly impacted my well-being and quality of life.”⁸

Cardi B’s attorney, Drew Findling, called the lawsuit a “transparent and pitiful attempted financial shakedown” and a “money-making scheme.”¹¹ He pointed to the criminal investigation, saying LVMPD and the Clark County District Attorney’s Office “closed this matter for insufficient evidence a long time ago,” and accused the plaintiff’s team of taking advantage of the situation.¹² Cardi B herself had not publicly commented on the case as of mid-2025.

When the Case Goes to Trial

The jury trial is set to begin in October 2027 in Clark County and is expected to last about two weeks, though that schedule can shift. As of early 2026, neither side had publicly discussed settlement, and Cardi B’s defense had not laid out its strategy in court filings.² If the parties do not settle, the case will go before a jury.

1
8 News Now. Woman Hit by Cardi B’s Microphone in Viral Video at Las Vegas Club Files Lawsuit
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WBLS. Cardi B Mic Throw Vegas Assault Case Headed for 2027 Jury Trial
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Good Morning America. Cardi B Named Suspect in Las Vegas Mic-Throwing Incident
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ABC7 New York. Cardi B Microphone Incident at Las Vegas Concert
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Rolling Stone. Cardi B Will Not Face Charges Over Microphone Incident at Las Vegas Show
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BBC. Cardi B Microphone-Throwing Incident Investigation Closed
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Trellis Law. Jane Doe v. Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus
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NewsNation. Cardi B Microphone Lawsuit
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People. Cardi B Sued for Alleged Battery by Woman After Throwing Microphone Off Stage
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PennLive. Cardi B Sued for Assault, Battery and Negligence
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USA Today. Cardi B Lawsuit Over Microphone Throwing Incident
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iHeart Z100. Cardi B’s Attorney Responds to Lawsuit Over Microphone Throwing Incident