‘Because I Got High’ rapper wins defamation suit against Ohio cops
While perhaps originally best known for early 2000s hits like the Grammy-nominated single “Because I Got High” and “Crazy Rap,” an Ohio-based rapper is experiencing a new high in his career following his victory in a $4 million lawsuit Wednesday.
Afroman, whose real name is Joseph Foreman, won the defamation suit filed against him over three years ago by Ohio police officers who sued him over music videos he released mocking the officers’ raid of his southern Ohio home in 2022.
During the raid, conducted with a search warrant based on suspicions of drug trafficking and kidnapping, Adams County sheriff’s deputies can be seen busting down his door and rifling through Afroman’s belongings. In an Instagram post at the time, Afroman lambasted the officers for vandalizing his property and stealing money from him.
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Doing what he does best, he proceeded to lay down 14 tracks about the incident on his 18th studio album, Lemon Pound Cake. The titular song references the deputy that stopped to eye some cake in his kitchen during the raid.
The music videos for “Lemon Pound Cake” and “Will You Help Me Repair My Door” featured surveillance footage from the raid, and the officers claimed these songs and videos were defamatory, an invasion of privacy, and led to “emotional distress, embarrassment, ridicule, loss of reputation and humiliation,” according to a Fox 19 Now article at the time.
Afroman reflected that this case is a fight for free speech, and when asked in court if the search law enforcement executed of his home gave him the right to post his music videos, Afroman didn’t hesitate.
“Yes. For tearing down my door, not paying for it, not being apologetic–me being a sport, doing something peaceful to raise the money to pay for their damages, me having the freedom of speech as an American to talk to my family, friends, and fans about what the sherrifs did to my home. Yes, I had the right to my freedom of speech after they left. I had the right to kick the can and do what I had to to do to repair the damage they brought to my house,” Afroman shared during his trial in Adams County.
In a viral Instagram post following the verdict, Afroman can be seen flanked by his supporters, celebrating the decision and enthusiastically yelling out, “Yeah, we did it America! Freedom of speech! Right on!”
And Afroman certainly hasn’t pumped the breaks on his rights.
Fans can now listen to Afroman’s celebratory diss track, “Batterram Hymn of the Police Whistleblower,” released just last week.
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