A U.S. federal jury awarded rapper Cardi B US$1.25 million in damages in a libel lawsuit against a celebrity gossip blogger who had posted videos in 2018 claiming that she was a prostitute who had contracted sexually transmitted infections and used cocaine.

Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, had sued the celebrity gossiper, known as Tasha K, in 2019 for posting more than 20 videos that spread “malicious rumors” about the rapper, according to the lawsuit.

The jury found Tasha K, whose real name is Latasha Kebe, liable on two counts of slander and one count each of libel and invasion of privacy, according to a verdict filed Monday.

Kebe had also posted in 2018 that Almanzar had herpes outbreaks in her mouth and that she would give birth to a child with intellectual disabilities.

Almanzar, 29, testified in court this month that she “felt extremely suicidal” after Kebe posted the videos.

In the lawsuit, the rapper’s lawyers said that the content would damage her reputation with her fans and affect her business prospects.

Cardi B, a Grammy-winning rapper from the Bronx, New York, found fame in 2017 with her song “Bodak Yellow.”

(SD-Agencies)