A university student was nearly kicked out for posting Cardi B 'WAP' lyrics - now she's been awarded $250,000

A university student won a $250,000 payout after being threatened with expulsion for tweeting lyrics to Cardi B’s 2020 hit song 'WAP'.

In 2021, former University of Tennessee (UT) pharmacy student Kimberly Diei sued the university, with the help of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). They argued that Diei’s First Amendment rights had been violated when the university threatened to expel her over posts in which she asked Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion (who features on the track) to be on a remix of their song, along with her own lyrics for her rap verse.

In one post, she wrote: “I got that WAP he give gwap so that he can get a lick. He ain’t my pops but I call him DAD cuz he got that dop a** d**k.”

Cardi B has claimed it cost $1 million to shoot WAP music video

Cardi B has revealed that the 'WAP' music video cost an eye-watering …

USA Todayreports that the lawsuit argued the university, a public institution, did not have the right to police her personal activity that was conducted off-campus on social media.

The complaint revealed the university determined Diei’s posts were “crude,” “vulgar,” and “sexual”.

In September, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit reversed an earlier district court’s decision that Diei could not bring a case against the university because her social media posts weren’t covered under the First Amendment, and ruled in Diei’s favour.

“UT’s pharmacy school learned an important lesson today. There is nothing unprofessional about students expressing love of hip-hop and their sexuality on social media,” Greg H. Greubel, Diei’s attorney, said.

“Kim has proven something FIRE has said for 25 years: The First Amendment robustly protects students’ rights to have a voice outside of school, even if college administrators don’t like what they have to say.”

“This ruling confirms what I’ve known all along,” Diei said in a press release. “I have a right to express myself in my private life that’s separate from school, and so do my classmates. I enrolled in pharmacy school to learn, not to have my taste in music and my thoughts on culture policed.”

Elsewhere, Cardi B said on social media she “hates” everyone who voted for Donald Trump and she delivered the perfect comeback to Elon Musk.

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