Thread by @meghanncuniff

Cardi B (@iamcardib) walks into the federal courthouse in Santa Ana, California, with her security guard and attorney today for the 2nd day of trial in a likeness misappropriation lawsuit over the cover of her mixtape Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1. Follow this 🧵 for live updates.

Here's yesterday's 🧵 all in one place. We heard opening statements in the afternoon, then the man using Cardi, Mike Brophy, took the stand. threadreaderapp.com/thread/1582396…

Mike Brophy got back on the stand about 10 minutes ago for continued direct-exam from his lawyer Larry Conlan. Cardi's lawyer will question him next in cross-exam. Here's my @lawcrimenews article from last night, focused mostly on Brophy's testimony. bit.ly/3VAAhiG

Cardi seems friendly, but her security balances that out equating taking photos of her walking in and out of court with stalking her and telling me I’ve been taking pics of her in the bathroom. He then clarified that he hasn’t actually seen me do that, I just seem like the type.

I stepped away and he smiled and said he was glad he’d made me uncomfortable. Contrast that with the last celeb guards I dealt with, Vanessa Bryant’s, who were actually respectful and downright nice, even though their client is a grieving widow and not a superstar entertainer.

Cardi B enters the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Santa Ana, California, this morning.

A shirtless Mike Brophy just stood with his back to the jury, walking down the box so they could get a full look at his tattoo.

"Would you like me to walk down?" he asks.

Conlan: "Yes, and let the jury see it from a different angle so they can see what it looks like in person."

Conlan is going over the history of Brophy's intense pride in his back tattoo. Brophy has talked a lot about the tattooist, Tim Hendricks @Saltwatertatto, and how unique Tim's work is and the culture surrounding it.

Once a piece is finished, "it's disrespectful" for the artist to try to mimic a back piece like that. "You can't say 'Oh, I love that back piece. Can I get that back piece?" Brophy testifies.

"As far as Tim goes, he's very highly respectful," Brophy said, referencing "his values when it comes to tattoos." "He has prided himself on just staying classy all the way through," Brophy says of @Saltwatertattoo.

He describes his prominence in the surf community and his stature in Newport Beach. "I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but I'm very well-known in the community," Brophy testifies.
(No mention of how many times he must get asked if he's related to @DrewBrophy.)

Brophy is describing the shock of learning his tattoo is featured on Cardi’s album, and the pain it caused his wife. He had to explain to her that “this was robbed from and this was putting me in a false light.”

“How did you feel to see your wife react that way?” Conlan asks.
“The whole image broke me because of how much pride I carried in this tattoo,” Brophy answers.

“Within the hip-hop and rap community this image was going pretty viral,” Brophy testifies. It was all over @AppleMusic, and he saw it all over social media.

“It was like a wildfire,” Brophy testifies.

"It was such a personal thing that was robbed from me and taken to me," and to see it being shown online in "such a raunchy and nasty light" then being ignored while asking for it to be removed.

"It was just a slap in the face and almost being mocked," Brophy testifies.

Brophy said he was trying to sweep it under the rug or keep it bottled up, but he “had a lot of sleepless nights over it.” He started getting a “crazy amount of stomach pain” and had to get on antacids to deal with indigestion because of his stress.

Brophy said earlier he's never had some much as a speeding ticket in his life. He said it took him a while to gather the courage to contact a lawyer. "It took me some time to get up the bravery and courage to get on the phone and get this situated," Brophy said.

“Did you ever think this portrayal is less offensive because Cardi B is a woman and you’re a man?” Conlan asks.
“Not at all. I felt a crazy amount of shame … I felt like it was a digital molestation,” Brophy answers.

On the album cover, “The only thing you’re seeing is my back tattoo. That’s my representation of who I am as a human being,” Brophy testifies. “We get tattooed to identify who we are and showcase this amazing artwork and showcase this amazing culture the best way we know how.”

Brophy described being at U.S. Open of Surfing and seeing a young girl “just cruising around” wearing a shirt with the album cover with his tattoo on it.
“It took me everything i had to not just go back and yank that shirt,” Brophy testifies. “Obviously, I had to control myself.”

Brophy also testified about seeing the shirt on a friend of a friend who “thought it was pretty funny that he was wearing it around me.” Conlan is now asking about his two kids and his concern they may learn about the image.

“This is something that’s shameful, I don’t want them ever to even have to assume this was me doing this,” Brophy said. “I don’t want them to second-guess their dad.”

Conlan is addressing the fact that Brophy hasn’t sought therapy over this, which Cardi’s lawyer pointed out in his opening. He seeks therapy from the ocean.
“I picked up meditation because I was mentally going crazy over this image,” Brophy testifies.

Conlan asks Brophy about Cardi's lawyer calling the publicity over the lawsuit "a self-inflicted wound."
"A self-inflicted wound is very, very unfair to say," Brophy testifies. The only reason he sued is because Cardi ignored his cease-and-desist letter.

"For me to have to go file a lawsuit was one of the most painful experiences for me because I've never done anything like this, and to see it all exploited all over @TMZ" saying he was chasing a lawsuit.

"It was the only thing I had to do. I don't know any other avenue to get this removed," Brophy testifies.

Cardi's lawyer Peter Anderson objected to Conlan's question about Cardi's depo and Judge Carney sustained, which basically served as a hype machine for the depo video we will be seeing later in trial. It sounds like Cardi was a bit, uh, dismissive of Brophy and his claims.

Cappello said something in his opening about Cardi dismissing Brophy as some guy who works in a surf shop while she's a superstar celebrity. He also previewed his cross of Cardi by mentioning that she herself has been the subject of false sex-related claims and she didn't like it

Cappello appeared to be referring to the defamation lawsuit Cardi recently won against YouTuber Tasha K. bbc.com/news/newsbeat-…

Brophy: “I want justice for this lawsuit. I want this image to be permanently removed. I want some accountability.”
“Once we sent a cease and desist letter, that should have been the end of this, and here we are five years later getting pushed off to the side.”

Cardi's lawyer Peter Anderson of @DWTLaw is cross-examining Brophy now. He did a fun build up to questions about Brophy's depo by doing the "you told the truth in depo right? and you've never corrected your statements?" intro.

Those intros usually evoke entertaining reactions from witnesses because they can tell they're about to be accused of lying. We heard it with Brophy just now.

The big questions Anderson got into didn't really live up to the hype though, it was just Anderson pointing out that Brophy has said he's seeking $5 million. No lies, just omissions because his lawyers haven't said that number to the jury yet.

Peter Anderson of @DWTLaw asks Brophy: “What is @TMZ?”

Brophy’s lawyer Larry Conlan objects to the question. “Vague and ambiguous, Your Honor.”

“Overruled,” Judge Carney says.

Brophy answers that TMZ is an entertainment news website.

Anderson is asking Brophy about the differences between himself and the guy on the mixtape cover, saying the guy is Black and Brophy is white. “I can’t tell the race, honestly,” Brophy testifies.

“Just so the record’s clear, you’re not Black, you’re Caucasian?” Anderson asks.
“Yes,” Brophy answers.
“Is it safe to say your friends know you’re not Black?” Anderson asks.
“Correct,” Brophy answers.

Now we're on a break for 15 minutes.

Anderson now has the photo of Brophy's tattoo displayed on screen, and it's the full one showing the tattoo all the way down to his buttocks, which the tattoo covers. Anderson is zooming in on areas of the tattoo and highlighting everything that isn't on Cardi's mixtape cover.

Another difference Anderson points out: Brophy's tattoo has flowers up top at his neck, but those aren't featured on Cardi's album.

"Do you agree that a lot of pole have tattoos that depict tigers?" Anderson asks.

"Yes," Brophy answers.

Anderson is now knee deep in his “How can Brophy’s reputation be harmed when he was in a band called the Pricks” line of questioning, and it’s pretty fun.
“You were the singer, the frontman of the Pricks” and wrong songs that the Pricks performed?

Brophy confirms yes, he was.

“And you used profanity in the songs that the Pricks” performed? Anderson asks.
“Yes I did,” Brophy answers, specifying this was before he had children.
“Once my wife was pregnant, I knew I needed to take a different approach ... That’s ultimately why I left the band.”

An obviously well-prepared Anderson busts out an old photo Brophy posted on Instagram showing him and a friend in front of graffiti that appears to read “The Pricks.” Anderson points out Brophy posted this seven years into his marriage.

“Those were good times,” Brophy said of the photo. Anderson moves to trial exhibit 80, a photo of Brophy performing with The Pricks and flipping off the camera.
“Is that you in front?” Anderson asks.
Brophy acknowledges that yes, it is.

Brophy's lawyer Larry Conlan is back at the lectern (which should never be called a podium) for redirect exam of Brophy. He's asking if this trial is the first time Cardi's team has acknowledged they used his likeness "a little part of his likeness" on the mixtape cover.

Anderson is objecting, saying it misstates the evidence and misquotes his opening. (Though he *did* say in his opening that the artist took the tiger off a photo of Brophy's tattoo and used it on the cover.)

Brophy got confused and there was a big brouhaha that's already irrelevant three minutes later.

"The witness is clearly and understandably getting confused. Let's stop it, OK? We're professionals here, let's act professional," Judge Carney says.

Brophy is off the stand after short recross from Anderson that focused on Cardi's response to the lawsuit, trying to establish that she hasn't ignored it. He asked about Brophy not previously seeking an injunction.

Now there's a 10-minute break and Brophy's lawyer is saying Anderson is giving the jury the wrong impression legally, because the injunction currently is being tried right here in this trial. "I share some of your concern in that regard," the judge says.

Judge Carney said Cappello (Brophy's lawyer) can address this in his closing argument, but Cappello says jury is being misled and Anderson went to far.
"I share your concern. I was thinking the same thing," the judge said.

So now it sounds like Brophy might get an extra jury instruction over this. Judge Carney tells Cappello to draft one and they'll discuss it later. "Try to make it as objective as you can," the judge says, but "I know that will be difficult."

Brophy's wife, Lindsay Brophy, took the witness stand and dropped a true bombshell, at least for me being a Corvallis, Oregon, native and @uoregon graduate: She grew up in Eugene (#GoDucks) before moving to Orange County and working for @Roxy, @Quiksilver then @hurley.
.

Lindsay Brophy is describing how she learned of the image from her husband and her shock over it. “I was shocked and disgusted.” She know it was him because “those are all his tattoos.”

“I kinda almost felt like he was confessing to me that he did something,” she testified. “For a split second I thought ‘Did he cheat on me? Did he do something?”
“I couldn’t believe that he would go and do this without talking to me about it first.”

Conlan asks Lindsay Brophy: "Are you offended by the mixtape cover?"
Anderson objects for relevance but Judge Carney overrules (which means witness can answer, if judge sustained Conlan would have to ask a new question).

Lindsay answers that the image is "super offensive to me."
Conlan asks why it's offensive.
"It's like a pornographic act is happening, and to me it looks like my husband is doing that to another woman," Lindsay testifies.

"We're most concerned about our children seeing it or the kids that he sponsors at work, the younger surfers seeing it," Lindsay Brophy says.
"This goes completely against our values and we work really hard to raise our kids a certain way and protect them."

"Now this is something we might have to face that we did not put out here," Lindsay Brophy testifies. Conlan asks if this is something she deals with through her weekly prayer group. Anderson objects as leading but Carney overrules. She says yes.

Anderson is now up for cross but we're going on the lunch break now. Judge Carney tells the jury to be back at 1 p.m.: "We still have a lot of work I want to get done today." Jury files out, which leaves the judge and attorneys free to address logistical issues like witnesses etc

With the jury gone, Anderson tells Judge Carney there is a problem and it has to do with Cappello saying in his opening that he’ll be asking Cardi about her lawsuit against Tasha K in the Northern District of Georgia. A fascinating discussion ensued.

https://twitter.com/meghanncuniff/status/1582774173432045581

Anderson began by telling Judge Carney that Cardi “has been basically stalked by a blogger, accusing her of infidelity, being a drug addict, using a bottle to satisfy herself sexually.” She sued blogger and a trial ensued. (This is Anderson relaying the basics to the judge.)

Anderson told Judge Carney the blogger (he never named her) “said things like, yeah I know everything I said is false but that’s how I make money.” Cardi testified to her extreme suffering and psychologist testified that she’d become suicidal.

The jury found in her favor and awarded punitive damages.

Fast forward to yesterday and Cappello’s opening statement in which he referred to the case and said he was going to ask Cardi about her testimony in that trial and get her to admit it’s a terrible thing to be defamed.

“Obviously, that causes problems,” Anderson told Judge Carney.

Anderson said Cardi’s defamation case against Tasha K “is completely irrelevant.” If Carney allows Brophy’s lawyers to ask Cardi about it, Anderson’s team will have to get into the differences between the cases.

"It would be a trial within a trial," Anderson said.
"We don't want to have that discussion in front of the jury." Anderson said his @DWTLaw team has found “numerous cases” supporting their argument, including one written by Judge Carney himself.

Cappello responded by telling the judge “it’s a little upsetting” that this is just now being brought up. (These guys are such drama queens.) Says Cardi’s lawyers should have said something to him about.

Cappello then describes the similarities between Cardi’s defamation lawsuit against Tasha K and Brophy’s likeness misappropriation case against Cardi. Cardi asked Tasha to stop, didn’t know what to do, felt helpless and hopeless and that people don’t care about the truth.

Judge Carney was not having it. He agreed with Cardi’s lawyers and said Brophy’s lawyers cannot ask her about the defamation lawsuit once she takes the stand (which will probably be tomorrow). The judge cited the most popular Federal Rule of Evidence: 403. law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/rule…

(Rule 403 of the Federal Rules of Evidence was once mentioned so often in a trial I watched that after the verdict, I heard jurors joking in the hallway about it, saying stuff like “I’m going to 403 you! That’s 403!”)

Judge Carney says he understands how asking Cardi about her testimony in the Tasha K trial could be relevant here, but it’s far outweighed by the inflammatory details that would come in.

So the Tasha K stuff is not coming in. Which is not good for Brophy, because his lawyer told jurors in his opening it was going to. And Cardi's lawyer told jurors in his opening to pay attention to promises made, and whether they're fulfilled.

Anyway, they're back in 8 minutes.

We’re back and so is the photo of Brophy flipping off the camera while performing with The Pricks. Anderson is asking Lindsay Brophy about it in cross, regarding her testimony that he wants to be a good role model.

Lindsay said her husband's history with the band is not a secret. Cappello spoke up because Anderson left the photo of Mike Brophy flipping the bird up on the screen after his questioning. Anderson quickly took it down. Conlan is up now for redirect.

Here's an afternoon jolt: Cardi B is on the witness stand! Brophy's lawyer called her as a witness. We saw a very entertaining clip from her April 2019 deposition.

Cardi insists she was already famous before the mixtape. “I was already in the biggest TV show in America.” She said she always wanted to be a rapper. “It was always my dream to be an artist. I’m a natural artist. I was already famous.”

Cardi also takes issue with Cappello saying Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1 moved her from 2 million followers to 69 million followers.
“Actually no, it’s not right,” Cardi testified. “Bodak Yellow was the one that made me huge.”

"Everything in life is a stepping stone. ... Every year of your life is a stepping stone," Cardi testifies. "But my mixtape wasn’t as successful as my record Bodak Yellow, which turned me into a superstar. Bodak Yellow turned me into a superstar and that song came out in 2017."

Cappello has played clips from Cardi’s deposition, including one in which she says, “I don’t really give a fuck about this mixtape anymore.”
She explains from the stand: "There was a lot of problems that came with the mixtape."

Cardi said you know how a song might remind you of an ex-boyfriend?
"Certain mixtape experience reminded me of hard times," Cardi testifies. "I didn't really make profit much from it."
"I didn't really care about my mixtape like that, I just didn't."

Then Cardi started going off, saying "I have worked my ass off with two kids these past years" while Brophy says in his lawsuit her success is because of his tattoo.
“It’s really insulting to me as a woman that a man is claiming responsibility,” Cardi says.

“When it’s my voice that has made me famous since 2014,” Cardi says.

Cardi continued: "And that’s what got me here, not Mr. Brophy’s proton a tattoo."

Cappello: "Are you done?"

Cardi: "Yes."

Cappello said something about his law partner Larry Conlan's depo w/ Cardi and Cardi replies "You know he was disrespecting me in that deposition?"
"Looking at me like he’s looking at me now but here," Cardi said on the stand, putting one of her hands right in front of her face

Cappello said something like OK, but we are talking about right here right now, not the depo, and Cardi relents.

"I’m sorry. I apologize. I’m just emotional," Cardi says.

Cappello moves into the cease and desist letter they sent her in 2017, which Cardi says she’s never seen. He asked her about saying in depo that "mail's for old people." But we sadly didn’t get to see the clip because Cardi just went ahead had acknowledged she said that.

Of note: Cappello is calling Cardi "Ms. Almanzar." Her lawyers objected, but Judge Carney said Cappello can call her what he feels comfortable calling her.

We're on a 15-minute break right now which will be a good chance for me to catch up with tweets of this amazing testimony.

In the depo clip played in the beginning, Conlan was asking Cardi if she thinks she’s a gangster.
“I feel like I’m a gangster,” Cardi said.
“I’m a good girl, but you know, I have a lot of heart. I consider myself a gangster. I’m from the hood.”

"I have the heart of a lion, so that’s what I am," Cardi says in the depo. "I’m not a pretty girl, or I am a pretty girl but I’m not like this pink girly girl. I'm like the Buttercup," she says, referencing The Powerpuff Girls. (Press row was loving this.)

In live testimony, Cardi explained why she's called Cardi B. Her little sister's name is Hennessy (Cardi laughed), and everybody used to call Cardi Bacardi. "So I just wanted to shorten it and put Cardi B because my first named started with a B [Belcalis] so I just said Cardi B"

"I just wanted to be a little bit different form the pop girls, the girls that’s going on right now," Cardi explained.

The questions just before the break were about her never responding to the cease and desist letter, with @iamcardib saying she has nothing to do with her mixtape and it's controlled by @AtlanticRecords. Cappello asked if she contacted Atlantic.

Cardi went off on that one. "My lawyers have been taking care of this! You guys have been going back and forth with my lawyers for so long!"
"You guys don't budge! You guys just ask for 5 million dollars over and over again!" Cardi testifies.

That was before the break. We're now back with Cardi still on the stand, but Judge Carney commented before we got going that he sense serenity in the air. As in maybe everyone can chill out a little bit now? Let's find out.

Cardi tells Cappello just now: "It's not your client's back. It's not him."
"To me it doesn't look like his back at all," Cardi testifies.
Then Cardi got constitutional on us.
"The tattoo was modified, which is protected by the First Amendment, by the way," Cardi says.

"The man is a Black man that's fit," Cardi says. Cappello had a 2018 letter from Cardi's lawyer displayed and she told hm he should put the photo of the album cover back up. "It's not Mr. Brophy's back. It doesn't look like Mr. Brophy at all."

She said she posted a photo of the model and everyone knows who he is. "He's a very famous Canadian model," Cardi said.
Cappello tried to calm Cardi down. "Ma'am, please. We have so much time," he said.

Cardi then started going off on the complete lack of receipts in this trial.

"There has been not one receipt he has provided in the court claiming, 'Hey that's you on Cardi's mixtape,'" Cardi testified.

"The image was modified and that's protected by the First Amendment, and it's still not on him," Cardi says. (c.c. @Popehat)
"I'm literally grabbing on a man's hair," she says.

Cardi referenced Lindsay Brophy's testimony. "His wife believed him that that wasn't him," she said. Then she added in a fun tone of voice, "I know if I see my husband and that's my husband..." She didn't really finish the sentence as everyone was laughing. (c.c. @OffsetYRN)

Cappello asked about Cardi's intent for the album cover. “I wanted an image to be like, ‘I’m in control,’” Cardi said. “Usually men are in control. I’m in control. The roles are reversed.”

“I’m not literally receiving oral in real life. It’s art work,” Cardi says.

Cappello played a deposition clip in which Cardi says Brophy is some guy who “works in a damn surf shop.” Cappello asked Cardi if she’s forgotten her roots, which obviously touched a nerve with Cardi.
“I never forget where my roots are. I would never forget,” Cardi testifies.

Cappello references the surf shop comment and Cardi says, “That wasn’t the point I was making.” Her point was he still works in a surf shop and hasn't suffered.
Cappello: “He can’t suffer like you’ve suffered?”
Cardi: “Yes, but that’s not him. He hasn’t suffered.”

"There is not one evidence where people believe it’s actually him," Cardi said. She demonstrates a firm grasp of the evidence by referencing a text message Brophy received from his tattooist in which tattooist says someone ripped of tattoo photo "unless you grew hair."

Cardi points out that the text itself shows even the tattooist knew at first glance it wasn't actually Brophy on the album cover. (There was a dustup earlier about this text exchange because Anderson says Brophy's legal team never disclosed it to Cardi's legal team.)

“He hasn’t gotten fired from his job. He hasn’t gotten a divorce. How has he suffered? He’s still in a surf shop at his job. Please tell me how he’s suffered,” Cardi said, (Keep in mind this follows testimony from Brophy and his wife in which they discussed how they’ve suffered.)

Cardi continued, asking if Brophy has lost money from his pocket. “That’s what punitive damages are,” Cardi said. She started saying “I have actually lost more, lost more” and Judge Carney says, “I think we need a question.”

Things really spiraled a minute ago. Cappello was really hammering Cardi and he says to her, “Do you want to be here all afternoon? Let’s try to get through this. The jury is here for all of us, including you. So let’s respect everyone in the courtroom if we can.”

Cardi's lawyer objected, saying "this is counsel's argument" and Carney quickly sustained. Cappello said something about canned testimony and Carney called a break. Jury leaves and Cardi's lawyer asks Carney to tell the jury to disregard Cappello's comments.

Judge Carney says quite bluntly, "I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do."
"I'm thinking of having Miss Cardi B finish with her testimony. You've gotten a lot of our direct testimony," the judge told Cappello. "Cardi b has clearly said what she feels is appropriate."

Then Judge Carney said this: 🚨 "That, or I'm thinking of a mistrial. Which I'll do on my own. I'm going to think about it for a few minutes."

Whoa! That was a few minutes ago. We're still on a break. Cappello asked if he could argue, but Carney said he's heard enough argument.

Update: Judge Carney's clerk, whose real true legal name actually is Rolls Royce, just popped into the courtroom and asked if everyone was ready. Judge Carney takes the bench. No mistrial, but he's putting time limits on the examinations. 30 more minutes of direct for Cardi.

Then Cardi's lawyer Peter Anderson will have an hour.
"I'm afraid we're at a point where it's just not productive. We're arguing with one another. It's unprofessional and our brand is being diluted," Carney says.
(The brand he's talking about is the U.S. District Court brand.)

Cappello says he "has about 15 minutes at most, Your Honor."
Judge Carney says great, you won't have any problem with the time limit then and tells Rolls Royce to bring in the jurors.
"All rise!" Rolls says as he brings them in. (Four men and four women.)

Judge apologizes to the jury for how unproductive the last few minutes of questioning was. "We were all arguing with one another and that wasn't fair to you." He read the jury a new instruction about how attorney comments aren't evidence. Now Cappello is back questioning Cardi.

Cappello starts asking Cardi about other songs and lyrics. Something about “those hoes over there.”
“There’s a lot of hoes in this damn building,” Cardi says.
“A lot of hoes in what building?” Cappello asks.
“Not this building,” Cardi assures us. Courtroom erupted with laughter.

Cappello is displaying the photo of Cardi that was used for the image. The guy going down on her in the photo? "His back as a lot of acne," Cardi says. And an ugly tattoo? Cardi says the tattoo is "funny, cute."
.

"But it's not what you want?" Cappello asks.
"I just don't like those pimples," Cardi answers.
Cappello is displaying other shots. "Tell me what's wrong with that one." Cardi says she doesn't like her face in some. Quibbles with her jawbone in some of them.

Cappello brings up the final album cover that has a portion of Brophy's tattoo.
"I liked it. You know, like, I feel like it's really straight forward. My eyes is looking directly at the camera. My face is photoshopped smooth," Cardi says.

Cappello asks Cardi when she first learned a man was saying the tattoo on the album was his.
"I heard it on @TMZ," Cardi says. "Everyone's like 'Cardi's being sued, Cardi's being sued,' and I'm like, 'What the fuck is going on?'"

Cardi continues: "I just told my manager, like, 'What the fuck? What's going on?' and he told me he was going to handle it for me. He got a lawyer for me."

Ok there was a quick break and now Cappello is done and Cardi is being questioned not by Peter Anderson of @DWTLaw but Lisa Moore, the Atlanta attorney who handled her defamation case against Tasha K. linkedin.com/in/lisa-moore-…

Moore asks Cardi about her background. She grew up poor in Bronx, New York, and "to me the ghettos and hoods of California, it looks glamorous to me." The Bronx is dirty and gray. "My neighborhood was very dangerous," Cardi says.

She says she didn't like to go outside after 9 p.m because one time she did, a rat ran across her foot. "That's how dirty and disgusting it is," Cardi says of the Bronx. "No mater how clean your apartments are, it’s just the Bronx. It’s the hood."

Cardi's father was a cab driver and her mother was "a cafeteria lady."
"I have like a very large family from both sides. We have always stick together no matter what," Cardi testifies. "There has been a couple of deaths in my family and we just get closer and closer."

Cardi said she currently lives in a house "and so many people live with me." Two aunts and four cousins live with her, along with her two kids and of course hubby @OffsetYRN. "And when his kids come they come. We are just a close-knit family," Cardi testifies.

Cardi says now that she's famous, "I kind of need them for peace of mind." She said her family members brighten her day and are very funny.
Lisa Moore asks about her kids. Cardi says her son is 1 and her daughter is 4.

Moore: "Did you grow up in a religious household, Cardi?"
Cardi: "Yes. I grew up in a religious household and it was always kind of confusing to me." Her father was Catholic and her mother Christian.

"Now that I’m a grown up I’m not like a traditional religious person as in I don’t go to church, but I have a very strong belief in God and I always put that message out there," Cardi testifies.

Cardi feels God has helped her.

"I have put the work in, but I feel like God has done the miracles," @iamcardib testifies. "I always like to push that to people."

She looked around at jury and courtroom gallery.

"Sorry if anyone is atheist here, but He is real," Cardi said.

Thread broke, continues here:

https://twitter.com/meghanncuniff/status/1582875960411508736