Cardi B has been awarded over $4 million after winning her libel claim against Tasha K, the vlogger who posted videos online claiming that the New York rapper had worked as a prostitute, used cocaine, and contracted sexually transmitted infections.

Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, had filed her action against Tasha K in March 2019 in Georgia, where Tasha K lives, over videos posted on the celebrity gossip blogger’s unWinewithTashaK YouTube channel.

During the trial, lawyers for Cardi B said that Tasha K had waged ‘a campaign to damage and destroy [Cardi B’s] reputation among her fans and the consuming public’, and that the Grammy Award-winning musician had suffered ‘embarrassment, humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional distress’. Cardi B testified that the allegations made her feel ‘suicidal’ and that Tasha K was ‘obsessed with slandering’ her.

According to a verdict filed on Monday 24 January, a jury found Tasha K, whose real name is Latasha Kebe, liable on two counts of slander, one count of libel and one count of invasion of privacy. They awarded Cardi B $1.25 million and $2.8 million in two separate verdicts on 24 and 25 January. The award includes approximately $1.3 million to cover the hitmaker’s legal fees and $250,000 to cover medical expenses.

In a statement, Tasha K’s lawyers said that they disagreed with the verdict and would be filing an appeal.

Posting on Twitter, Tasha K said that ‘My Husband, Attorney’s, & I fought really hard,’ and thanked them ‘for their long hours and sleepless nights’. She added, ‘it’s only up from here’.

Following her victory this week, Cardi B posted a photograph on Instagram which appeared to show her late grandmother. It included the caption: ‘My queen thank you for hearing my prayers… Only you know those nights that I cried to you feeling hopeless and tired even when it seems like I have the world on my hands.’

Tasha K previously brought a $3 million countersuit against Cardi B, alleging that she had made threats against her: that claim was dismissed last July, after the judge cited a lack of evidence.