The Grudge Judge: Cardi B vs. Rah Ali

Was Cardi B justified in her seven-year grudge against Rah Ali and the airport confrontation it led to?

Welcome to Grudge Court, a totally invented and nonsensical creation here at Grudgery where the not-quite-honorable author Danny O’Neil presides over the resolution of petty beefs, bone-deep grudges and long-standing feuds.

Today before the court, we have the case of the Bronx rapper Cardi B’s resolution of her seven-year grudge against Rah Ali, who like Cardi B is from the Bronx and was also a cast-member on the VH1 show “Love & Hip-Hop.”

To wit, Mrs. Cardi B, who will identified as the aggressor in these proceedings, was struck by Mrs. Rah Ali back in 2018, and because of this she believes she was entitled to, and I quote, “get her lick back” which she did in July 2025 when she threw a piece of stereo equipment at the respondent in Cannes, France.

Mrs. Rah Ali contends that the aggressor “looks so stupid” and this incident is “goofy” making everyone look bad.

The Grudge Judge now asks that everyone settle down so we may proceed through the testimony to determine whether the aggressor’s actions were in fact justified. It should be noted that while the judge did not actually interrogate either witness, all their quotations are verbatim quotes taken from the following two sources:

• The Twitter Spaces Cardi B on hosted Aug. 1, 2025 to explain what happened in France.

• Rah Ali’s podcast discussion Ray Daniels in which she laid out her version of the confrontation with Cardi B.

The initiating event

In 2018, the aggressor, Mrs. Cardi B, was involved in a confrontation with Nikki Minaj, a fellow rapper.

This is in and of itself is not totally surprising as as both Nikki Minaj and Cardi B are from New York and people from that city tend to be rather feisty, especially in public spaces. Additionally, both women are rappers, which means they work in an industry where it is standard practice for artists to insult one another at various levels of transparency and then argue about who actually insulted (or dissed) whom.

The incident happened during Fashion Week. There is a video of the commotion surrounding the altercation, but it was impossible to see what actually happened. There were no criminal charges. However, Nikki Minaj has said that Rah Ali “beat up” Cardi B.

Cardi B subsequently indicated that she was struck by Rah Ali while being restrained by Minaj’s security.

Recorded testimony

The aggressor asserts she had not seen the respondent for years following that incident. But in the summer of 2025, both women were in Cannes, France. More specifically, at the airport.

(Editor’s note: While this courtroom scenario is entirely fiction, the actual quotes from Rah Ali and Cardi B have been taken from recorded public statements they provided about the incident. In other words, the presentation is fiction, the quotes are not.)

(Grudge Judge turns to address the aggressor, Mrs. Cardi B)

Now, Mrs. Cardi B, what were you doing at the airport?

Cardi B: “I’m about to fly to Paris to shoot my album content. Everybody’s waiting for me.”

And then you see the respondent?

Cardi B: “I’m in the line, my thing is about to go through TSA and whatever. And I turn around, and I literally see this woman, she’s in a wheelchair, and she looked like in distress or something. She looked in distress so I looked at her. I couldn’t even believe my eyes because I feel like I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.”

What did you do then?

Cardi B: “I looked at her, and I said, ‘You good?’ And she said, ‘I don’t feel well.’ And I’m like, ‘OK.’ “

(Grudge Judge turns to the respondent)

OK, Mrs. Rah Ali, what can you tell me about this day in the airport?

Rah Ali: “She has like a red dress on. I’ll show you the video because I definitely took my phone out immediately and pressed record. She’s chewing a bagel.”

Why were you in a wheelchair?

Rah Ali: “Because I didn’t feel well.”

Were you perhaps also trying to get through security quicker?

Rah Ali: “I really genuinely had a cold. I did a virtual appointment with a doctor, and got a Z-pack. I wasn’t feeling that good.”

Fair enough.

(Grudge Judge turns back to the aggressor)

OK, Mrs. Cardi B, you’ve seen the respondent. She’s in a wheelchair. What happens next?

Cardi B: “I told my security, right, ‘Yo, this chick is right behind me.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh my God. She’s in a wheelchair.’

“So I asked him, ‘What should I do?’ Because at the end of the day, we are in France, and you know, it would have been really easy for me to just snuff her in a wheelchair, but I’m like, ‘What should I do?’ because we’re in France.”

OK. I must be misunderstanding something. Isn’t the purpose of security to prevent your own involvement in altercations. It sounds like you were asking his advice on whether to initiate one.

Cardi B: “My security been my security already for six years¹ … so his opinion to me, matters. Not even his opinion, but I would never like to look (weak) in front of my security because I feel like if I do some (weak) (stuff), I know my security is going to be like, “(Ma’am), you’re (weak).” Because that’s the type of relationship that we have.”

(Grudge Judge turns to the respondent)

So Mrs. Rah Ali, I assume you’re watching all of this?

Rah Ali: “She goes to her security and she says to him, ‘That’s …’ whatever she says to him. I see him lean over like this, and she’s telling him in his ear, so I just take like the bag that’s in my lap and I put it on the wheelchair part because I know I’m probably going to have to stand up.”

(Grudge Judge turns to the aggressor)

Cardi B: “So I’m on the line, and I see that she’s stood up now. Now, she’s not in the wheelchair. Now she’s standing, but she’s staring at me. Like, she’s staring at me like literally staring at me. She’s not getting her eyes off of me. So now I’m already thinking to myself just like, ‘(Forget) it. It is what it is.’ “

(Grudge Judge turns to the respondent)

Rah Ali: “I’ve stood up now because I don’t know what any of them are going to do. I’m always looking to be the mature person at this point because I have too much to lose, but I’m definitely by nature a fighter. My heart doesn’t pump Kool-Aid, and I will go down like down into my last second of breathing and I’m going to bang. It is what it is.

“I just was like, ‘Girl, grow up.’

“She’s like, ‘Grow up? Grow up?’ ”

(Grudge Judge turns to the aggressor)

Cardi B: “So that’s when I threw a JBL speaker on her head. And she said, ‘You feel better about yourself?’ And then she’s acting like now she’s going to fight. But she wasn’t being like aggressive. She was like, ‘OK.’ Because I guess she was sick. I don’t know what was wrong with her.”

(Grudge Judge turns back to the respondent)

Was something thrown at you?

Rah Ali: “She takes her shoes off. She starts throwing her shoes. She starts throwing her bags. I don’t know. She starts throwing her bags.”

Cardi B interjects: “I don’t know why she’s saying that I was throwing a shoe, and why you’re not saying you got hit in the head with whatever, but whatever.”

(Grudge Judge motions to calm everyone; looks to the respondent)

What did she say next?

Rah Ali: “Immediately she starts yelling and cursing and screaming, ‘Oh, wassup?Wassup (ma’am)? Yeah (ma’am)? You thought I wasn’t going to get my lick back? What you thought? What you thought, (ma’am)?’ ”

Cardi B (interjects): “You know I’m not lying because even herself said, ‘You thought I wasn’t going to get back my lick back?’ I wouldn’t have said that if it was just me arguing with her. I wouldn’t have said that if a shoe went flying somewhere. You know I said, ‘I got my lick back,’ because you got hit.”

(Grudge Judge bangs his gavel)

OK. Is there anything else?

Cardi B: “My security was like, now he’s in between both of us because now the police is really coming. They’re really rushing to the part of the airport, and she was saying, ‘You feel good now? You good? That’s what you wanted?’

“I kept saying, ‘Yeah, that’s what I wanted. Of course I’m going to get my lick back.’ “

(Grudge Judge looks to the respondent)

Rah Ali: “She’s yelling to the top of her lungs now. Of course, now the airport people are coming over, and I was just like, ‘This is so goofy.’ Ultimately, the end result was nothing.”

(Grudge Judge looks to the aggressor)

At the end of the day, do you think this was a mature way to handle this situation?

Cardi B: “I know that I’m grown and I shouldn’t have that mentality, but let’s be (freaking) for real. If I wouldn’t have said nothing, and if I would have been an adult, she still would have come on and would have been like, ‘Oh, I saw Cardi B and she didn’t do nothing. She’s (weak).’ “

So this was about showing you’re tough?

Cardi B: “I’m not even trying to sound tough. I’m just glad this happened, and if that’s how God wanted it to happen, it happened. And for y’all talking about, ‘Cardi, you’re 32 years older, bla, bla, bla you’re a whole A-list …’

“If you think somebody was going to physically touch me while I’m being pinned down by security, and you think I’m not going to get my lick back, you’re bugging.”

OK, I think we’ve heard all the testimony we need. I’m going to take a few minutes to surf the Internet and review source material, and I’ll be back with my ruling.

(Grudge Judge turns to the aggressor)

Mrs. Cardi B you were playing a risky game here, triggering a confrontation at an airport in a foreign country. Had either of you been punished or even inconvenienced, this (totally made-up) court would hold you entirely responsible for any and all damages incurred.

However, much like the first altercation, nothing happened beyond the initial altercation. No one appears to have been arrested, charged or even inconvenienced all that much beyond the ruckus in the security line. Travel plans remained intact.

(Grudge Judge turns to the respondent)

Now, Mrs. Rah Ali. I sympathize with your situation here. You were in a weakened state and in a foreign country when you were approached by someone who became intent on achieving some level of payback for something that happened seven years ago.

Do I think it was mature on the part of the aggressor to hold onto this particular grudge? No, I do not. I’ve heard you point out that the aggressor has had three children as evidence she needs to outgrow this sort of behavior. On a personal level, I tend to agree. I know you are also a mother.

However, I also think back to a lesson that my father instilled in me when I was growing up in rural Oregon: If you strike someone else first, you can’t go complaining about what happens next. More specifically, he told me if I started a fight I had no right to object to the method someone else used to finish it.

By all indications, you struck the aggressor back in 2018. The fact that she struck you back this summer is a direct response to that.

Neither instance resulted in arrests and charges. Everyone was free to continue on with their lives. Therefore, it is the finding of this court that this matter amounts to off-setting personal fouls with no one being punished further.

The scorecard is officially even between the two parties, but I want to be very clear that no further recriminations will be tolerated.

If I see these two parties in this court again, whoever breaks the equilibrium that is now established will be held responsible for any damages that result and lectured as by me as if they were a small child.

Verdict: Grudge dismissed.

Sources

• Nikki Minaj talks about the initial altercation with Cardi B in which she says Rah Ali beat her up “really, really bad.” Vibe summarized this episode of Queen Radio, providing the specifics of the altercation.

1. In the recorded testimony, Mrs. Cardi B indicated her security is also a “big Crip” but this reference has been excised from the transcript because it was not considered relevant.