Cardi B is gearing up to go to war with her ex-manager Klenord "Shaft" Raphael in court. She's countersuing him with accusations that he took advantage of her lack of knowledge of the music industry. Get the legal deets inside...
Cardi B isn't going down without a fight!
Back in April, we told you Cardi's former manager Klenord "Shaft" Raphael had pulled the trigger on a $10 million lawsuit for breach of contract after she let him go.
Now, the "Be Careful" rapper is clapping back...legally.
The "Bodak Yellow" rapper is now countersuing Shaft for taking advantage her being uneducated in the music business. She claims he was robbing her blind.
According to The Blast, Cardi filed her countersuit on June 1st where she revealed she trusted Shaft and his companies to propel her rap career. However, "that trust was abused." She's countersuing “for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, accounting, unjust enrichment, and potentially other claims.”
The site reports:
She says that despite him having a duty to act in her best interest, he took advantage of her “trust and naiveté and persuaded her to sign contracts and to enter into deals in which Mr. Raphael attempted to take an unreasonable and unconscionable portion of [her] earnings in the entertainment industry for himself.”
She claims to still be learning the extent of the “overreaching and mismanagement committed” and is continuing to investigate.
The docs go on to state, “It appears that Plaintiff took advantage of an inexperienced young woman with considerable talent and charisma, but with a limited education who lacked experience in the age-old exploitative market of the entertainment industry.”
Cardi B does not deny Raphael played a part in her professional development but she says he “grossly exaggerates” his role.
In 2015, Cardi B says she signed her deal with Raphael’s company — without a lawyer — which provided her former manager with a 20% cut of her earnings. She says he breached their deal by failing to provide monthly accounting, failed to appoint an independent business manager and for not providing her with adequate payments owed to her.
Cardi accuses him of putting an entity he controlled as a middle party between her and Atlantic Records. She claims the company collected 50% of Cardi’s record royalties and required her to sign all copyrights to the company.
Let this be a lesson to other aspiring entertainers to have all their ducks in a row when it comes to signing contracts and inking deals. It's a dog eat dog world and folks will suck you dry if you let them.
In music news...
Rita Ora just dropped the visuals for her track "Girls," featuring Cardi, Bebe Rexha and Charli XCX. Check it out above.
By the way, Cardi is set to hit the stage to headline Atlanta's ONE Music Fest in September. This will likely be her first post-pregnancy performance.
Photo: Getty
