A member of the audience threw a drink at Cardi B during her concert in Los Angeles. She was livid and hurled the microphone she was using at the individual. Now, a concert-goer has filed a police report

Warning: the following post contains expletives that some may find offensive. Reader discretion advised

Angry Cardi B is not a woman to trifle with. As you have heard (or read) by now, she recently reacted swiftly when a concert-goer suddenly tossed a liquid (that apparently included ice) from a cup at her while she was singing on stage in Los Angeles this past weekend. She reacted angrily and hurled the microphone that she was, until that point, singing into at the individual. She remained on stage, looking mighty mad. But as ABC’s Good Morning America reported, there were other videos shared online that—in at least one—showed her smilingly encouraging her audience to cool her down, even beckoning with her left hand, and then saying “throw me some water”. Some liquid was hurled at the stage, but she did not appear to be wet (and she was not singing). It is not clear if this was before or after that trending interactive incident.

In an interview with social music streaming app Stationhead, Cardi B ranted, clearly vexed, “I can’t really talk about it, but let me tell you something: A bitch got motherfucking assaulted. And for anybody that got some bullshit to fucking say, when water and ice get thrown in your fucking face and hit you mad hard, then you go and fucking talk to me and tell me what you would do in my motherfucking shoes, bitch.” She added, “I’m not trying to sound like a gangster or anything, but that really fucking hurted (sic).” She did not say how badly hurt she was, or if she was bruised, or needed medical attention. But as the trending video showed, she was just fuming, while her body guards sprang to action. What’s also rather curious was that she was still singing even when the microphone had landed on someone, and then, presumably, on the floor. Was Cardi B lip-syncing at the Drai’s Beachclub?

After that show, a female concert attendee, as CNN reported, filed a police report for battery. But, as we learned, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department stated that “no arrests or citations were issued”. The police did not say if this woman was the hurler. Whether the culprit was encouraged or not, it is not clear why the person felt it right or amusing to wet a singer mid-performance. Similarly, it is not known why the rapper encouraged the rowdy response of getting her audience to wet her. In one segment, after she asked her crew to “give [her] some water”, someone from below the stage threw a seemingly colourless liquid, but it did not reach her. She went forward and responded, “I say that shit feel (sic) good” and continued with “put that shit in my pussy, bitch (just not her face?),” turning her back against the audience while lifting and thrusting forward her ample posterior. If that was after the wet disruption, why was it alright for the water blessing then, and not before?

At the time of what some members of the media called “an attack” (also, in the wake of other artistes receiving unwanted stuff thrown at them on stage), Cardi B was singing Bodak Yellow in a diaphanous orange dress with a halter neck and slit-to-the-waist skirt that revealed her undergarments. It is no doubt a sexy look, but a woman dressed sexily does not mean she wishes to be watered (even if she had said yes!) or that she won’t become very and visibly angry when provoked and, in response, react agressively, however egregious or reputation-damaging it might appear on stage. It is possible that she had spent a lot on her dress, as well as considerable time to look ravishing for her performance. Wetting her could mean undoing everything she had planned for. But is retaliatory behaviour helpful to maintaining orderliness in an entertainment business not known to be camp-fire sing-alongs?

To make her behaviour less comprehensible, another video had emerged, showing her throwing a mic, again with her left hand, at the DJ during a barefoot performance (above) said to have taken place later that evening, after her first sling. Apparently, she was unhappy that he had cut short her songs repeatedly (she was not singing to a live band). Microphones as projectiles twice in less than 24 hours! Fans have come to Cardi B’s defence, saying she has the right to react to the perceived disrespect. But was what she did proportionate to the slight she perceived? Losing one’s cool is one thing, hurling a microphone that typically weighs 420g (or more) is clearly misuse of stage equipment. Was her repeated display of her hurling skills in such a short span of time, in one city not enough to constitute a pattern of unthinking, potentially harmful behaviour on stage, even when her targets appear to be in the wrong? Hard it is indeed to understand the singer-audience dynamic and performance culture of hip-hop.

Screen shots (from top down): j_blizzyy via TMX, letstalkaboutit/YouTube, and The Juice Pop/Twitter