Who Is Rah Ali? Why Cardi B And The 'Love And Hip Hop' Star Are Feuding Over Cardi's Best Friend
This isn't their first altercation, either.
Just when we thought we knew everything there was to know about the infamous Cardi B/Nicki Minaj shoe debacle of 2018, a major detail was revealed by none other than Minaj herself. The rapper spoke about the altercation on her October 29, 2018 QUEEN radio segment.
According to Minaj, it was Love and Hip Hop New York star Rah Ali who gave Cardi the bruise on her head, not a security guard! But who is Rah Ali?
According to Minaj, "For people who don’t know, Rah Ali beat Cardi’s a** real bad. You went home and told people that security hit you, and we let that ride for legal reasons.”
Both women were attending the Harper's Bazaar ICONS party during New York Fashion Week back in September 2018. “Anybody that wants to pull up the surveillance footage, I will give you 100 thousand dollars," Minaj said, backing up her claim.
Ali had left a comment on the Instagram page of Cardi's sister, Hennessy Carolina, in October 2018 that now seems to have taken on new meaning. In the comment, Rah wrote, “Keep playing with me you dumb B**** and Ima RAG YOU like I did your sister.”
So, what caused the fight between Minaj and Cardi B in the first place? According to a report, Cardi had approached Minaj for liking a comment on social about Cardi's parenting. Things escalated and Cardi threw a shoe in Minaj's direction. It was then that security stepped in, but it's unclear at what point Ali may have gotten involved.
For her part, Minaj has denied making any references to Cardi's parenting style. Cardi B then quickly clapped back in a 10-minute video calling out Minaj. "You lie so much you can't even keep up with your f***ing lies. First you say that you got the footage. Your cameraman got the footage. But now you talking about how you wanna pay someone $100,000 if they give you the footage. Yo, make sense when you talking."
And, now, over a year later, the feud between Cardi B and Rah Ali has been fired up once again!
Cardi B and Minaj may be two of the biggest music stars around right now, but not as much is known about the third woman allegedly involved, Rah Ali. Here's everything we know about the Love and Hip Hop New York star, and why she's currently feuding again with Cardi B.
1. Who is Rah Ali? She's appeared on multiple reality television shows.
In addition to Love and Hip Hop New York, Rah, who also goes by Rashida Ali, has also made appearances on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Basketball Wives, and Black Ink Crew. She was also famously involved in an altercation on Love and Hip Hop, with fellow castmate, Sky.
2. She's friends with Nicki Minaj.
It makes sense that Ali would get as involved as she reportedly is in the famous singer's beefs — she and Minaj are actually quite close.
Ali has been seen in multiple pictures hanging out with Minaj on her Instagram, and also plugged that aforementioned segment of Minaj's QUEEN radio. Ali even walked down the aisle to Minaj's song “Moment For Life” during her 2017 beachfront wedding.
3. However, more recent reports suggest that the two may no longer be close.
Although it certainly seemed like Ali and Minaj were loyal BFF's, that all changed in summer 2019 when the pair stopped following each other on Instagram. This, of course, raised a lot of eyebrows and even caused speculation as to if they might be feuding.
One of the main reasons this appeared to be so shocking to fans was because Ali had just suffered the tragedy of losing her daughter, who was born prematurely. However, it's unknown what the true status of their relationship currently is as neither Minaj nor Ali have made any comments on why they unfollowed each other.
4. Ali was previously charged with assault.
She faced felony assault charges, but they were dropped in 2013.
5. She's a shoe entrepreneur.
Ali has owned several shoe stores in both New York and Atlanta. Ali was known as Love and Hip Hop New York's resident celebrity "shoe consultant". She continues to work in the shoe business and frequently shares products from her company, The Stiletto Group.
6. She wasn't in a relationship with a music star before Love and Hip Hop New York.
Ali wasn't romantically linked to any rap stars, which is how most women on the show are introduced to the audience. Hence, the title of the show.
Ali did get engaged in 2013 to a man whose identity she kept under wraps, but he reportedly works in the entertainment industry and the pair does do business together. They were married in 2017.
7. Ali and Cardi B are feuding — again.
In February 2020, the infamous feud between the reality star and the singer revved up once again. After Ali called the singer's friend, Star Brim, a "stone cold bum" on her podcast, Cardi B was quick to fire back.
On Instagram, Cardi B wrote out a long rant defending her friend:
"People looveee antagonizing then get called out and play innocent. This internet s**t is ridiculous and people do the most response. Sick of it. My friend Star wears the same amount of name brand clothes that these b***hes that love calling people 'bums' be wearing. Own no lease 2 vehicles. Buys her own jewelry and never ask me for s**t. Star don't do stuff for me for expectations. I DON'T BUY FRIENDS, that's why I barely have any. You can't be in your mid 30s callin people bums when you own no property and no businesses. STAR is due in 3 weeks n got off social media to relax n not stress. … Where was the energy when she didn't announce she was pregnant but ever since she did her name stays in mouth!"
Cardi then went on to call out Ali, saying, "You been arrested for the SAME charge STAR went to prison for and u actually pay less rent than her. What makes u more superior?!"
Of course, Ali wasn't going to stay quiet. She said that she would respond to the singer in an upcoming episode of her podcast. "You gone wish you left me alone."
Hennessy Carolina, Cardi B's sister, also weighed in on the beef, with her own response to Ali, saying, "B***hes be like, 'ima wait a whole week to speak on it' NO B***H LETS FIGHT RIGHT NOW CAUSE YOU DO TOO MUCH TALKING."
For her part, Star Brim has also commented, "If I was at that s***, I would've spanked Rah. If I see Rah right now, I'll still spank Rah. So it really don't matter. If I could've got to Nicki it would've went down too. But that b**** is well protected."
Jill Zwarensteyn is a writer and Michigan native who covers trending topics, pop culture and astrology. When she’s not writing for YourTango, she is also a travel blogger and an actress.