Cardi B’s former manager Klenord “Shaft” Raphael has responded to the Bronx rapper’s $15 million dollar countersuit rebutting his claim of responsibility for her rise and crafting her image, New York Post reports.
Initially, Shaft sued Cardi for a hefty $10 million in April because she allegedly engaged in defamation, a breach contract and unjust enrichment, which means she’s benefited from his work without compensating him for it. However, some stipulate the lawsuit came from Cardi’s decision to sign a management deal with Quality Control back in March.
In turn, she filed the countersuit because she claims he was trying to control her life and wasn’t doing things for her best interest financially or career-wise.
“As Cardi B’s star rose, ‘so too did Shaft’s greed,’” the suit stated. “Shaft proved increasingly willing to take advantage of, deceive and exploit Ms. Almanzar, and he had the ability to do so through complete control over all legal documents and virtually every dollar that Ms. Almanzar earned in the entertainment business.”
Still, Shaft’s team claim they were responsible for placing her where she is now and deserve proper acknowledgment for it.”The facts are simple – Cardi B’s music, image, and rise to superstardom were all developed and executed by Shaft and his team of writers and producers,” Shaft’s team said in a statement.
“The outright lies and distortions in her claims make you shake your head. This is just more of the same campaign by Cardi B and her team to defame and injure Shaft, the one person who saw promise in her, invested time and resources in her, and succeeded in making her rich and famous.”
We’ll see how this play out in court.
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