Cardi B Is the Buttercup

Back in 2017, a man with an unfortunate back tattoo named Kevin Michael Brophy, Jr. sued Cardi B for allegedly using his likeness without his permission on the cover of her 2016 Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1 mixtape. The image shows what appears to be Brophy performing oral sex on Cardi. In his lawsuit, he claims he did not pose for a photo nor has he ever met the rapper, so, naturally, he’s looking for $5 million in damages, Yahoo reports. He alleges he was “shocked, outraged, humiliated, and appalled” when he saw the cover, and that “his wife believed he had betrayed her.” When Cardi appeared in New York court on Monday for the disposition, her responses to Brophy’s lawyer’s questions were, in a word, aspirational. Let’s take a look.

When asked about the meaning behind the artwork, Cardi responded:

“I mean I am I am a gangster. Like, I feel like I am a gangster, like I’m a gangsta. You know? I’m a stand-up girl. You know what I’m saying… Like I’m not a pretty girl, or I am a pretty girl. But I’m not like this, this pink girly girl. I’m like the Buttercup, you know? There’s three powerful girls. There’s Blossom and there’s Bubbles and there’s Buttercup, the green one. That’s me. That’s who I am.”

When asked about the use of the tattoo image on the cover, she retorted:

“I never really cared to, like see, because I didn’t give a fuck. I cared for me, and it was, like, all about me… I didn’t give a fuck about this tattoo. I didn’t give a fuck about none of that shit. So, when it comes to that, you need to go to the photographer, or whoever edited this shit, because that’s who did it.”

At one point she went all “this is a damn waste of my time” and said:

“I could really be with my kid right now. Like, I’m really upset because I really have to be with my kid. All because of some bullshit trying to get money and then $5,000,000, Are you fucking kidding me? That mixtape didn’t even make, not even a million dollars. I got real lawsuits with real shit, and I got to deal with this bullshit. This is four hours long taking away from my time, my job, my motherhood.”

There’s more, and you can read through it here. I only hope one day I, too, can become the Buttercup.