US rapper Afroman has defeated seven sheriff’s deputies in a court case after they sued him for releasing songs and videos that mocked them and a raid they carried out on his home.
The officers broke down the musician’s door in 2022 as part of a drug and kidnapping investigation, but the raid didn’t lead to any charges.
Afroman, best known for his 2000 hit Because I Got High, responded by using home security footage in viral videos that ridiculed the deputies.
His video for the song Lemon Pound Cake was inspired by a deputy apparently eyeing a cake in his kitchen, while another video attributed personal and sexual transgressions to the officers.
They sued him for defamation, but a jury has sided with the colourful rapper after a three-day trial.
‘‘We did it America! Yeah! We did it! Freedom of speech!’’ Afroman yelled outside the Ohio court, surrounded by supporters, in a clip posted on social media after the verdict.
Real name Joseph Foreman, the musician gave evidence wearing a red, white and blue US flag-themed suit.
‘‘The whole raid was a mistake,’’ he told the court. ‘‘All of this is their fault.
‘‘If they hadn’t have 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, nothing.’’
‘Attempt to silence criticism’
The deputies requested $3.9m (£2.9m) damages for ‘‘humiliation, ridicule, mental distress, embarrassment and loss of reputation’’.
Afroman released songs including one that featured graphic and unfounded suggestions about Deputy Lisa Phillips’ sexuality.
Sgt Randy Walters said his child had been humiliated at school over Afroman’s posts, and had come home afterwards in tears.
The deputies’ lawyer Robert Klingler told the court the rapper had ‘‘perpetuated lies intentionally’’ about his clients.
‘‘Even if somebody does something to you that hurts you, that you think is wrong - like a search warrant execution that you think is unfair - that doesn’t justify telling intentional lies designed to hurt people,’’ he said.
Afroman released an entire album in 2023 about the incident, calling it Lemon Pound Cake, while its title song also took aim at the officer who, the lyrics said, ‘‘got the munchies because he got high’’.
That song has had 3.6 million views on YouTube, while another parody track titled Will You Help Me Repair My Door has had more than nine million.
The rapper told jurors he had a constitutional right to make artistic and critical content about government officials.
His lawyer David Osborne argued that public officials could not use the courts to ‘‘silence’’ criticism simply because it hurt their feelings.
‘‘I’m sorry they feel the way they do, but there’s a certain amount that you have to take as a public official, it’s part of the duties of the job,’’ Osborne said.
‘‘What chilling effect does that have on the world we live in? You don’t like what a public official does and you make a joke, and you’re dragged into court?’’
Source: BBC
--Agencies
