Cardi B Targeted by Rogue Photographer Who Refused To Stop Throwing Tantrums on Set

Cardi B's latest music video shoot in New York was briefly thrown into chaos on 11 August 2026, when a veteran photographer clashed with set security on a closed Brooklyn set and ended up in handcuffs, according to police and eyewitness accounts.

The incident unfolded on a cordoned-off street in Sunset Park, where the Grammy-winning rapper's team had secured an official city permit to film scenes for a new visual project.

While Cardi B was inside the restricted filming zone, 70-year-old street photographer Steven Sands attempted to push closer to the action. When production staff and uniformed NYPD officers providing crowd control instructed him to move back, a tense verbal argument ensued.

Cardi B Set Shaken as NYPD Steps In

Officers from the New York Police Department were already on the scene providing crowd control around the production when Sands allegedly ignored both production staff and uniformed police.

The shoot was taking place on a cordoned-off street where Cardi B's team had secured filming rights, and access was being tightly managed.

Witnesses claimed Sands turned up uninvited and attempted to work the shoot as if it were an open street event. When staff instructed him to move, he is said to have bypassed barriers and argued with those securing the perimeter. Police officers then stepped in, reportedly repeating instructions for him to move away and stop what one source bluntly described as 'tantrums' on set.

Sands refused to comply and was issued a criminal court summons for disorderly conduct. Footage from the location, which quickly circulated on social media, showed him in handcuffs beside a patrol car in Sunset Park. NYPD officers later confirmed he had not been formally arrested and was released at the scene.

Cardi B herself was not seen in the confrontation clips and there is no suggestion she had direct contact with Sands during the incident.

Her representatives have not publicly commented, and nothing is confirmed yet beyond the police paperwork and the videos.

Photographer Defends His Actions on Cardi B Shoot

Sands, a long-time New York street photographer, has pushed back at the idea that he was some sort of random intruder. In comments, he insisted he actually arrived before Cardi B and other performers, positioning himself for what he assumed would be regular media coverage of a high-profile video shoot.

He said a security guard later approached him with new instructions about where press could stand, moving him behind equipment that would have blocked his view. Sands claimed this change made it impossible to capture a clean shot of Cardi B, prompting him to ask for a different vantage point about ten feet away in a clearer, open area.

According to his version, the guard refused, telling him Cardi would not be happy with paparazzi where he wanted to stand. Sands admitted he responded that he did not care what the rapper wanted, a remark that appears to have escalated the mood. From that point, he said, the situation 'went downhill,' ending with police involvement and the on-camera detention he is now known for.

On Instagram, where clips of the scuffle went viral, comments suggested this was not the first time Sands had been moved on from celebrity events. One user wrote that he 'somehow gets himself in these dramas on a regular basis,' arguing that his behaviour justified police action.

Another poster, apparently from New York's nightlife world, claimed Sands had been chased off a different gig days earlier and described him as a figure 'who's been around since the 80s.'

Others were less concerned about the photographer and more fascinated by the choice of location. One commenter suggested Cardi B 'knew there was going to be some drama on that set' by filming on one of Brooklyn's more notorious blocks.

Cardi B's Legal Shadows: From Strip Club Case to Mic Toss

Drama on Cardi B's sets is hardly happening in a vacuum. The rapper has navigated a series of legal and public-relations flare-ups in recent years, some of them directly linked to her behaviour at performances and shoots.

In 2018, as reported by Capital Xtra at the time, she was due in a New York court over allegations that she orchestrated an attack on two strip club bartenders, Jade and Baddie Gi, who said they were left injured. Cardi B did not attend a 3 December hearing, having already secured a six-week extension and booked a Miami video shoot beforehand.

While her lawyers managed the courtroom fallout, she was photographed on a yacht, covered in tiger-inspired body paint, filming what was believed to be the City Girls collaboration Twerk alongside a crew of bikini-clad dancers.

More recently, her infamous microphone-throwing episode in Las Vegas has refused to die down. During a performance at Drai's Beachclub on 29 July 2023, a fan hurled a drink towards the stage, splashing Cardi B. The rapper reacted instantly, flinging her mic into the crowd. Police later reviewed the incident and decided against criminal charges.

The woman who says she was hit by the microphone has since filed a civil lawsuit accusing Cardi B of assault, battery and negligence, and even taking issue with the later sale of the mic, which she claims was used to trivialise her experience.

In a previous interview on The Breakfast Club, Cardi defended herself, saying she had asked the crowd to throw water but specifically told them not to hit her face because of her make-up. She argued the fan disobeyed those instructions and deliberately targeted her.

Against that backdrop, it is not hard to see why a seemingly routine run-in between a photographer and security on Cardi B's latest set has drawn more attention than a standard production hiccup.

The artist remains one of the most closely watched figures in pop culture, and every flare-up around her orbit now arrives with the expectation that somewhere down the line, another lawsuit may be waiting in the wings.