Seeing a picture of yourself in widespread media without your consent would definitely stress anyone out – but what if it’s a picture of your tattoo? Of course, a lot of people’s tattoos come from somewhere else, so it shouldn’t bother them too much to see them replicated on someone else’s. However, when it comes to a fully fledged custom back being used in a way that casts you in the wrong light, that’s a different story.
A California man, Kevin Michael Brophy, is suing Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almánzar, for $5 million for putting a picture of his back tattoo on the cover of her 2016 debut mixtape, Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1. The Artwork shows a man’s back where you can see part of Brophy’s tattoo while his head rests between the rapper’s legs.
In the lawsuit, Brophy claims he was humiliated by the album cover tell the court that “it seems like I’m giving oral sex to someone who isn’t my wife, someone who isn’t my partner, and an image I’ve never consented to.” He adds, “As a father of two children and a devoted husband and also a man of faith this goes against everything I stand for and I would never sign anything like that.”
Almánzar’s attorney, Peter Anderson, countered with the saying that Brophy’s face is not on the cover, and it cannot be confused that as the man depicted, he is black with hair and Brophy is a white man with a shaved head. Despite this, Brophy has claimed that people in his life, including his wife, have asked if it was him on the cover.
The rapper implied that Brophy suffered no consequences from the artwork, and her legal team also described the allegations as an attempt to “cash in the legal equivalent of a lottery ticket.” “This is not about taking anything down. Y’all molested me for $5 million,” the rapper told Brophy’s attorney, A. Barry Cappello, also noting that the mixtape wasn’t even lucrative for her and that her cut was even less than what Brophy is aiming for in the suit .
Mixtape cover creator Tim Gooden was paid $50 for the artwork. He originally suggested another design which was scrapped after the first draft, so he googled “back tattoos” looking for other options before coming across Brophys.
“It’s not him” said the brazen rapper. “To me, it doesn’t look like his back at all. The tattoo has been modified, which is protected by the First Amendment.” In response to Brophy’s claims of being adversely affected by the cover, Almánzar shot back, “He wasn’t fired from his job. He didn’t get divorced. How did he suffer? He’s still at his job in a surf shop. Please tell me how he suffered.”
Brophy had sent Cardi B reps a cease and desist letter to have the picture removed, but never received a response. The rapper said she never saw the letter, adding that checking her mailbox was aimed at “old folks,” prompting some giggles from the courtroom.
The trial is expected to last four days, with a verdict expected later today. What do you think — is this whole lawsuit a baseless cash heist, or does Brophy’s devastation have any validity? If you saw your large custom tattoo on a famous rapper’s mixtape cover, would you try to get a share of the profits too?