The verdict was the icing on the cake.
Afroman did not defame Ohio cops in a satirical music video that featured footage of them fruitlessly raiding the rapper’s house, a jury found on Wednesday.
The 51-year-old “Because I Got High” rapper, whose real name is Joseph Foreman, held up his hands in triumph and hugged people in the courtroom after he was found not liable for defamation, or invasion of privacy false light publicity.
Foreman was sued by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office over a drug search at his home in August 2022 that resulted in no criminal charges.
The hip hop star wrote the satirical song “Lemon Pound Cake” and made a music video with real footage of the raid taken from his home surveillance cameras to raise money for property damage caused during the search, he has said.
Seven cops with the sheriff’s office then sued him in March 2023, alleging the music video defamed them, invaded their constitutional privacy, and was an intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The video features footage of the cops busting down his door during, and of one officer eyeing his “mama’s lemon poundcake” with his gun drawn.
After making the music video, Foreman allegedly continued putting up social media posts with names of the officers involved, the lawsuit states.
Several of the posts allegedly falsely claimed that the cops “stole my money” and were “criminals disguised as law enforcement,” according to the suit.
They also falsely stated that the officers are “white supremacists,” that Officer Brian Newman “used to do hard drugs” before “snitching” on his friends, and that Officer Lisa Phillips is “biologically male,” according to the lawsuit.
Foreman’s lawyer had argued the song, which he described as a combination of comedy and music, was simply free speech.
“We see public officials all the time that are made fun of,” lawyer David Osborne said in a closing statement Wednesday. “They are going to be held to higher standards, their work is going to be criticized, that’s just what happens when you’re a public official.”
“It’s a social commentary on the fact that they didn’t do things correctly,” he said of the officers.
An attorney for the police, meanwhile, demanded a total of $3.9 million in damages — divided among the seven officers involved.
“[Foreman] perpetuated lies intentionally repeatedly over 3 1/2 years on the internet about these seven brave deputy sheriffs,” lawyer Robert Klingler said in closing remarks Wednesday. “[He] knew that what he posted on the internet were lies.”
“He says he’s not going to stop…tell him through your verdict that he needs to stop,” Klingler added.
“All of this is their fault,” Foreman testified in court Tuesday, according to WCPO.
“If they hadn’t wrongly raided my house, there would be no lawsuit, I would not know their names, they wouldn’t be on my home surveillance system, and there would be no songs … my money would still be intact.”
