Cardi B hit with $5m lawsuit by male model 'performing sex act' on album cover

In September Cardi B made history as the second solo female rapper to hit No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with her hit Bodak Yellow. Unfortunately, the reality star turned hip hop musician is quickly learning that with more success and money come more problems.

According to TMZ, the 25-year-old is being sued along with her management team for a staggering $5m (£3.8m) for using a male model on the cover of her 2016 mixtape Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1 without his permission.

Kevin Brophy says he is the man in the image which shows Cardi receiving cunnilingus while drinking a beer. Although his face is not shown, he claims that the image is 100% him because of his distinctive back tattoo, which depicts a tiger clashing with a snake.

He was made aware of the album cover's existence by a friend and equally troublesome to Brophy was the fact that his son has seen the superimposed image and has been questioning his relationship to Cardi.

Brophy says he has never met the music artist, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, and never authorised the use of his image.

The lawsuit comes days after Cardi B claimed she was thrown out of a New York hotel by "racist" police. TMZ reported that she was asked to leave the Hilton Albany hotel on Saturday (21 October) night by staff, who accused her camp of partying loudly and smoking weed.

In a video published by the site, Cardi can be heard calling hotel security "racist motherf***ers" in the lobby of the Hilton Albany as she was escorted from the hotel by police. Cardi took to Instagram on Sunday (22 October) to share her side of the story in a series of videos, which were later deleted.

"You wanna know something. Albany is known for being racist. Every single time niggas from New York get locked up and get sent upstate, they are always complaining about COs beating them. I really experienced that shit yesterday," she told her 12m followers.

"The last time I smoked weed, I was 21. I tried to take a pull when I was around 23, and I was so paranoid I was freaking out. I don't like it."