Footage of an incident involving an alleged fan asking Cardi B for an autograph that escalated into security and #Offset’s entourage stepping in.
Clip via TMZ / Splash News#CardiB #Offset #MetGala #MetGala2018 #Media #News #HotTopics #Headlines #TMZ #WilameanasWorld pic.twitter.com/AodjvNQsQe
— Wilameana’s World 🌎 (@wilameanasworld) May 8, 2018
The entourage for American singer-songwriter Cardi B violently laid into a fan during the wee hours of Tuesday morning just after the annual Met Gala. Now they’ve got some explaining to do.
Initially claiming that the autograph-seeking fan got a bit too close to the “Bodak Yellow” composer, three members of Cardi B’s security personnel are now wanted for questioning by the NYPD.
Thirty-three-year-old Giovanni Arnold just wanted an autograph from one of his favorite rappers. He didn’t get that autograph and said he felt snubbed. So then he started complaining. But that was apparently the wrong move. Arnold can be heard in the video taunting the security crew shared by Cardi B and Offset. He says:
I just asked for an autograph, damn. Don’t shoot me over an autograph now. Don’t beat me up over an autograph…Please beat me up, please brother! Be a fool, man. You better invest. You better invest in your money, bro. Do something with your money instead of buying jewelry. You better invest your money, bro. Cause you’re gonna go broke one day, you heard? Ain’t gonna last forever, bro. Don’t come at me, nigga. Y’all niggas is crazy.
The taunting continues up to the point Arnold is punched in the face.
As the tongue-lashing proceeds, three members of the entourage can be seen exiting the SUV and responding with their fists. A man in a striped shirt swings (and connects) first–sending Arnold to the ground. Two other men follow. The quickly toppled Arnold doesn’t fight back as the punches keep flying. An immediate crowd reacts in horror as Arnold is crumpled and pummeled helplessly on the late-night Manhattan pavement.
As the video ends, a voice in the background that sounds a lot like the “Be Careful” artist shouts out, “No! No!”
Arnold’s attorney Daniel Szalkiewicz said, in comments to the New York Daily News, “This wasn’t an accident and it wasn’t self-defense. It was an unjustified ambush by rabid members of Offset and Cardi B’s entourage. Lucky for our client, police were there to prevent further injury.”
During a press conference Tuesday afternoon addressing the assault, the NYPD’s Dermot Shea said, “We have a very long reach and a very long memory.”
[ video courtesy Wilameana’s World, image via Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for GQ]
