The rapper Cardi B is countersuing her ex-manager for $15m (£11.3m), following a $10m lawsuit he filed against her in April.
In April, Klenord “Shaft” Raphael accused Cardi B (whose real name is Almanzar Belcalis) of breach of contract and defamation after she left his management company for a new deal with the company Solid Foundation. Raphael claimed he played an “integral role in developing her music career and public image … Shaft is disappointed by her actions to freeze him out of her career.”
The countersuit claims that Raphael tried to take “complete control over all legal documents and virtually every dollar that Ms Almanzar earned”, as well as her choice of romantic partners.
It also claims he “unconscionably used his position of trust as a fiduciary to extract a larger portion of [her] earnings”. It accuses him of inserting clauses into her contract with Atlantic Records that meant his company received 50% of her royalties as well as her copyright. Raphael has not yet responded to the allegations.
Cardi B is currently pregnant with her first child with her husband, Offset, of the rap trio Migos. She continues to release new music, guesting with Offset on a single released this week by the rapper Lil Yachty.
Earlier this week she also became the first ever female rapper to score two No 1 singles on the US Billboard chart, for Bodak Yellow in 2017 and her current hit I Like It.
