Cardi B Files $15 Million Countersuit Against Klenord ‘Shaft’ Raphael
Cardi B is not taking the lawsuit from her ex-manager lying down.
According to TMZ, the rapper has struck back with a counterclaim against her ex-manager, a man professionally known as Shaft.
According to the counterclaim, Cardi B — whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar — was feeling suffocated by her ex-management team, who she claimed was overly possessive of her in both her personal and professional life. She claimed, through her attorney, that Shaft tried to sabotage her relationship with her now-husband, Migos rapper Offset. Shaft, said Cardi, was trying to tell her who she should and shouldn’t see romantically.
The “Bodak Yellow” rapper also claims that Shaft wanted more than what his initial management contract called for. He got a commission off of her record deal — which was well within his right to receive — but, she claimed, Shaft also wanted 50 percent of her Sony Music publishing deal.
Cardi’s attorney, Paul LiCalsi, Esq. of Robins Kaplan LLP, filed the suit in federal court today, in the Southern District of New York. He is seeking in excess of $15 million for his client.
Though he, through his representative, forwarded the paperwork to this writer directly, he declined to give any interviews or make any on-the-record statements about the suit, claiming that all he wanted to say was in the filed paperwork.
Make sure ya go to https://t.co/DUY9W4ScfV and read our article ! pic.twitter.com/sObMyJlOzu
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) June 20, 2018
As was previously reported by the Inquisitr, Cardi B was sued by Klenord “Shaft” Raphael, who claimed that he was commissioned to turn her into a “social media sensation” and take her from Instagram to superstardom.
In his initial suit, he claimed that he was the principal songwriter behind the hit “Bodak Yellow,” and he is credited as both a songwriter and a producer on the Billboard chart-topper.
I said i like it Like that!!’ pic.twitter.com/pHf3EnHb8W
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) June 21, 2018
Raphael also claims that he was defamed by the Love and Hip-Hop star, and was cut off, financially, after she “made it big” as a result of the hit VH1 show.
Raphael blames both Offset and Patience Foster, who is Cardi B’s makeup artist and publicist, for “turning” her against him, and feels that but for their influence, he would still be a part of Cardi’s success.
At the time of the lawsuit, Licalsi released an official statement making clear that he would be responding to the allegations in court, and posed the rhetorical question about how Raphael could want 20 percent for a management fee, then want another 50 percent in publishing royalties, yet not think he’s “robbing Cardi B blind,” which is what the rapper was alleging in the first place.
