YouTuber Tasha K, who accused Cardi B of having herpes, has apologized after losing her appeal against the rapper's $4 million lawsuit win: 'Talk about a check my mouth can't cash'

• YouTuber Tasha K has apologized to Cardi B.
• It comes after a federal appeals court upheld Cardi's $4 million defamation verdict against her.
• Cardi sued Tasha K in 2019, claiming she had launched a "malicious campaign" against her online.

Tasha K has apologized to Cardi B after a federal appeals court upheld the rapper's $4 million defamation verdict against the YouTuber.

Cardi sued Tasha K, whose real name is Latasha Kebe, for defamation in 2019, claiming the YouTuber had launched a "malicious campaign" against her and became "obsessed" with her. She won the case in January 2022, with a federal jury ordering Kebe to pay Cardi $4 million in damages and legal fees. 

Kebe appealed the verdict later in 2022, claiming that the verdict against her was the result of a "very lopsided presentation of evidence to the jury."

On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit rejected Kebe's appeal.

The court ruled that Kebe's claim of key evidence being withheld in the original trial was false and that the YouTuber had failed to properly make her argument to the trial judge, meaning she forfeited the right to do so before an appeals court.

"There are two issues here. One is whether the jury had sufficient evidence to hold appellants—Latasha Kebe and others—liable for defamation (and other privacy torts) against appellee Belcalis Almanzar (better known as 'Cardi B'). The other is whether the district court erred by excluding evidence," the appeals court wrote. "We hold that Kebe hasn't preserved either issue for appeal."

After the ruling, Kebe wrote an apology on Twitter, which she has since deleted. A screenshot of the apology, however, remains on Kebe's Instagram.

"We lost the appeal against Cardi B sad day," she wrote. "But I'm gonna be alright. I appreciate all your love [and] support. Throughout this fight. Today we throw in the white flag. What happened will never happen again. To Cardi [and] her team, I apologize sincere. We live and learn."

Kebe captioned her Instagram post: "Talk about a check my mouth can't cash!!????????????????"

Per the 2019 lawsuit, Kebe, who has 1 million subscribers on her YouTube channel, claimed Cardi had tested positive for herpes and had substance-abuse issues.

Cardi sued her after the rapper's attorneys said they had repeatedly tried and failed to get Kebe to pull her videos down.

Following a trial in January 2022, jurors sided with Cardi, holding Tasha liable for invasion of privacy, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She was awarded $1.25 million in actual damages, $1.5 million in punitive damages, and was also awarded expenses and attorneys fees.

Opening up about the ordeal during an appearance on the premiere episode of "The Jason Lee Show" in January, Cardi said she wanted to "die" as a result of Kebe's claims.

"I kept telling people, 'I just wanna die, I just wish I was dead, I wanna be dead,'" she said. "I wasn't a celebrity. I was somebody that really wanted to be dead. I didn't wanna see my kid, I didn't wanna be with my man. It just made me cry."

In a statement to Billboard, Cardi's attorneys Lisa Moore and Andrew Pequignot praised Tuesday's ruling.

"We're obviously pleased that the Eleventh Circuit has affirmed the jury's unanimous and important verdict, which we believe was more than amply supported by the evidence presented in the case," they said.

Cardi B's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.