Cardi B recently won a copyright infringement case against tattoo model Kevin Michael Brophy over the cover art for her Gangsta B*tch Music Vol. 1 mixtape CD, which was released in 2016. TMZ reports that Cardi sued in 2017 over a tattoo on a woman who appeared on the cover of the rapper’s 2016 mixtape album. The WAP hitmaker may be shown on the cover sitting inside a limo with a man’s head in front of her legs.
Despite the fact that the man’s face is obscured by the camera, the record cover depicted a tiger and snake tattoo on his back. Brophy stated that the model’s tattoo matched his own and that the cover was a “misappropriation of his appearance.”
While both sides’ lawyers acknowledged that the modified body art on the album cover was freely accessible on the internet, Brophy’s counsel argued that the picture led many people to assume that the figure on the cover was Brophy.
I just won this lawsuit …Im soo emotional right now 🥲…I wanna kiss Gods feet right now …..IM BEYOND GRATEFUL!!!!
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) October 21, 2022
Previously, the tattoo model told the court that the cover art was “against everything” he stood for:
“It seems like I’m having or*l s*x with someone who isn’t my wife or partner, and it’s an image that I never signed off on, ever.” As a father of two, a committed spouse, and a man of religion, this goes against all I believe in, and I would never sign off on anything like this.”
Cardi B’s cover image, according to Brophy’s attorneys, caused him “anxiety and reputational loss,” and the man requested $5 million in damages.
All About Kevin Michael Brophy
Kevin Michael Brophy is a tattoo model that works in Newport Beach, California as the marketing manager for the surf and skate gear brand RVCA. Brophy said in an interview with the Courthouse News Service that he works for a “socially responsible surf and lifestyle” business. Brophy made headlines in 2017 when he sued Cardi B for her Gangsta B*tch Music Vol. 1 mixtape album cover tattoo art. Little is known about Brophy’s personal life, and he is not on any public social media sites.
What did Cardi B have to say about the tattoo lawsuit over the record cover art?
Cardi B won her legal fight against Kevin Michael Brophy over the tattoo art on the cover of her 2016 mixtape album. Brophy’s accusations were disputed by the rapper’s lawyer, Peter J. Anderson, who also said that mistaking the guy for the model on Cardi’s album cover was “unlikely”:
“That’s a hairy black guy, and that’s a shaved white man.”
According to The Rolling Stone, Anderson also said that he could not name “any individual, any member of the public, or any acquaintance who” mistaken Brophy for the guy on Cardi’s album cover:
“You put that harm on yourself.” He did this by identifying himself as the person in the photograph when no one else had.”
The defense team further emphasized that the tattoos shown on the model in Cardi’s album were discovered on Google but transformed into a “newly produced piece of art” following a series of altercations. On Friday, a federal jury found in Cardi B’s favor, saying that the cover art did not detract from Brophy’s appearance. While speaking to Rolling Stone, the rapper’s attorney referred to the parties involved as “gracious winners,” and said that Michael Brophy and Cardi B shook hands after the judgment.
