Cardi B Won’t Face Criminal Charges Over Mic Throwing Incident in Las Vegas: Police

Las Vegas police have dropped their criminal investigation into last weekend’s incident in which Cardi B threw her microphone at a fan who splashed her with a drink.

Though a police report was filed by the alleged victim Sunday (July 30), the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to Billboard on Thursday (Aug. 3) that the star has now been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.

“After a thorough review of this case and with the consultation from the Clark County District Attorney’s Office, this case has been closed as having insufficient evidence,” the department wrote in a statement. “No charges will be filed in relation to this case.”

In their own statement, Cardi’s attorneys (Drew Findling, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld) confirmed that they had been notified of the result: “On behalf of Cardi, we appreciate the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s diligent and prompt resolution of this matter.”

In a video of the Saturday (July 29) incident that went viral on social media over the weekend, the 30-year-old hip-hop star (real name Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar) was seen hurling a microphone at an unruly audience member after they splashed their beverage on her during a performance at Drai’s Beachclub on the Las Vegas Strip.

On Monday (July 31), LVMPD confirmed to Billboard that an individual had later filed a police report alleging battery, claiming she was “struck by an item that was thrown from the stage.” Police did not mention Cardi by name, but the location of the alleged incident matched the address of the venue at which the rapper was performing.

The alleged victim has not been identified and thus could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Saturday was the latest in a rash of recent incidents in which artists have been struck by objects while performing at concerts. In recent weeks, Drake called out a fan for throwing a vape on stage; Bebe Rexha was injured when a cell phone was hurled at her face; a fan tossed her dead mother’s ashes up onto P!nk’s stage; Kelsea Ballerini was struck by an object mid-song; someone sent a sex toy flying at Lil Nas X; and a mysterious object pelted Harry Styles near the eye and left him wincing in pain.

In Cardi’s case, she was in the middle of delivering her hit song “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” — which spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2017 – when she was suddenly splashed by the liquid from a cup. In a video that the star herself retweeted, she turns angry and throws her mic down into the crowd while appearing to yell.