Cardi B pleads not guilty to charges in New York strip club fight

Grammy Award-winning rapper Cardi B pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to felony assault charges relating to an alleged fight at a New York City strip club last year.



The 26-year-old performer from the Bronx borough of New York City entered the plea in an appearance at New York Supreme Court in the borough of Queens.

“Not guilty sir, honor,” Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, told the judge during the roughly 30 minute hearing.

As she entered the court building, wearing a navy blue and pink pantsuit and carrying a pink handbag, one fan shouted “Free Cardi B.”

The singer, known for chart-topping hits “Bodak Yellow” and “I like it,” waved back with a hand sporting long, pink fingernails, before being ushered into the court by her lawyer and two bodyguards.

The rapper surrendered to New York City police last October after a complaint claimed she was involved in a fight at the Angels NYC strip club in Queens.

“I ain’t going to jail, I got a daughter,” she declared near the end of her Los Angeles concert on Saturday.

Cardi B was indicted by a grand jury on felony charges earlier this month along with two other individuals in her entourage.

According to police, the rapper got into an argument in August with two of the club’s female bartenders. She had accused one of them of having an affair with her husband, Offset, a member of the rap trio Migos, according to local media.

“The victims allegedly had glass bottles hurled at them, alcoholic drinks thrown in their faces and one woman’s head was slammed into the bar,” Acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan said in a statement. “This kind of violence won’t be tolerated in our community.”