Cardi B promises to fend off lawsuit over music video shot in villa

Cardi B is hitting back at a new lawsuit alleging she and her estranged husband Offset defrauded the owner of a Beverly Hills mega-mansion by allowing them to film a music video for their song “Like What” for nearly free.

“The problem is people find loopholes and want to get over it but IRON YOUR BEST SUIT BITCH,” the Grammy-winning rapper wrote on X. “See you in court!!!!”

According to the 11-page complaint filed by the owner of the villa, Rolling StoneCardi and Offset set their sights on using the striking glass and aluminum home, which had previously been home to Justin Bieber, and “developed a plan” to use it “without paying full market value.” The property's owner, identified as Bi LLC, claimed the couple reached out to the home through their representatives in late 2023 or early 2024 and booked it anonymously “under the false pretense” that it would be used for a TikTok video. Cardi and Offset later showed up and made the property's “striking architecture” the “centerpiece” of their feature-length music video, according to the lawsuit.

“All defendants have and continue to wrongfully profit from their unauthorized use of the property at plaintiff's expense,” the lawsuit states. The plaintiff accused the famous couple of trespass, unjust enrichment and intentional misrepresentation and sought all profits related to the “Like What” video as well as punitive damages.

In her social media post, which followed shortly after the lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, Cardi claimed the complaint was riddled with inaccuracies. “We paid these people $10,000 CASH to rent the property that same day for a full 24 hours from 6am to 6am the next morning and we went over the rent by ONE hour that we paid the agent overdraft fees for in March,” she wrote. The “Money” singer added that the property was “equipped with cameras everywhere” and that both the agents and owners were present “the WHOLE time.”

“I have pictures and videos of them on set!! Now they're trying to trick us and say we told them it was a TikTok video when it wasn't in the contract anywhere and they didn't hear the whole song and saw how long we filmed,” she wrote. “Why would it take us 24 hours to film a TikTok?”

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, included stills from the video shoot and noted that “Like What” had garnered more than 26 million views on YouTube within six months.

Cardi and Offset welcomed their third child together earlier this month. The couple, who announced their split in the summer, shared the news with a series of Instagram photos.

Cardi has hinted at a successor to her debut album Violation of privacyand her spokesman confirmed with Rolling Stone that she plans to release an album in 2024. In July, the rapper was featured on Rob49's new single “On Dat Money,” along with a music video shot in a New Jersey mansion.