Cardi B’s relationship with her former manager may be more complicated than we realized. After Klenord “Shaft” Raphael filed a $10 million lawsuit against her for breach of contract, TMZ reports that he already took more than his fair share of her earnings. When Cardi booked a gig, Shaft’s bookkeeping showed that she was being paid less than offered and pocketed the difference. Moreover, Cardi’s fiance Offset was shocked to hear that Shaft charged Cardi a 20 percent managing fee. TMZ’s insider with Shaft confirmed that rate, though says that booking writers and producers more than justified that that cost.
Cardi reportedly confronted Shaft about his bookkeeping during this year’s Super Bowl weekend. One month later, she signed with Quality Control’s management wing Solid Foundation — QC, of course, being Migos’ longtime label. Shaft named QC founders Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “Pee” Thomas in his lawsuit.
“Since discovering Cardi B in 2015, Shaft has played an integral role in developing her music career and public image,” a rep for Shaft says to Billboard. “While he is proud of their successful collaborations as she evolved from Instagram influencer to music megastar, Shaft is disappointed by her actions to freeze him out of her career, which are detailed in the complaint. Shaft is confident that his lawsuit will validate his conduct and substantiate his legal claims.”
Cardi hasn’t responded to Shaft’s claims or lawsuit publicly. Instead, if social media is any indication, she concentrated instead on promoting her debut album Invasion Of Privacy and performing Ozuno’s “La Modelo” at last night’s Billboard Latin Awards. See snippets of her eventful night below.
