Cardi B pleaded guilty to two counts stemming from an altercation at a strip club as part of a deal that means she will avoid a trial and possible jail time.
Grammy Award-winning rapper Belcalis Almanzar pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and second-degree reckless endangerment and was sentenced to 15 days of community service.
Ten other charges were dismissed.
“I’ve made some bad decisions in the past that I’m not afraid to face and admit,” she said in a statement.
In court, the 29-year-old admitted to organizing and participating in two attacks on employees at the Angel nightclub in New York in 2018.
According to authorities, the incidents stemmed from a dispute between Almanzar and two sisters – one of whom she believed was having an affair with her husband, rapper Offset.
Prosecutors said that on the first night Almanzar and her entourage attacked the victim, a bartender, pulling her hair, hitting her and slamming her head into the bar.
Two weeks later, they returned, throwing alcohol, bottles and hookah pipes at the first victim’s sister.
When asked to confirm the details in court, Almanzar quietly did so, admitting that she had offered a friend $5,000 (£4,000) via Instagram to assist her in the fight.
In addition to community service, the rapper was ordered to stay away from the victims identified as Jade and Baddie Gi for three years.
She accepted a plea deal the day before her case went to trial, according to The New York Times.
The musician’s attorney, Drew Findling, said she wants to draw a line under the case.
“She had so much planned for her family, her career and her community that she just felt, frankly, it was important that a three-week jury trial would distract her from what she felt was most important, so we reached out to the prosecution,” he told the New York Post.
In her statement, the rapper said, “Part of growing up and maturing is taking responsibility for your actions. As a mother, this is a practice I try to instill in my children, but this example started with me.
“These moments do not define me and do not reflect who I am now.”
In a statement, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said, “No one is above the law. In pleading guilty today, Ms. Belkaris-Almanza and two co-defendants have accepted responsibility for their actions.”
Cardi B rose to fame in 2017 with her single Bodak Yellow, which topped the Billboard charts and became one of rap’s most colorful and outspoken performers.
Her debut album, Invasion of Privacy, won the 2019 Grammy for Best Reel Album, and she scored a No. 1 worldwide hit with the Latin-flavored I Like It and X-rated WAP, a duet with Megan Thee Stallion.
She was mobbed by dozens of fans and court staff after a hearing in Queens Criminal Court in New York on Thursday.
In all my years of covering court cases, I’ve never seen anything like this,” NBC News reporter Melissa Colorado said on Twitter. ” “As the defendant walked out of the courtroom, court staff cheered for the defendant who accepted a plea deal.”
Colorado added that one employee even asked the rapper for a photo.
“I couldn’t,” Almanza replied.