\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\tAfroman<\/a> won a jury verdict Wednesday (March 18) clearing him of wrongdoing in a lawsuit filed by seven Ohio police officers, who claimed the rapper defamed them by releasing music videos that mocked them after a failed raid on his home.<\/p>\n \n\tThe verdict came in an unusual lawsuit<\/a> filed by members of an Ohio county sheriff\u2019s department over songs and social media posts by Afroman (Joseph Foreman) that harshly criticized the guns-drawn 2022 raid on his property, which yielded no charges.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n \t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThe case claimed the videos were false and caused the officers severe emotional distress. But Afroman, known for his 2000 hit \u201cBecause I Got High,\u201d testified at trial that he had a First Amendment right to mock the officers, particularly after they smashed down his door for ultimately no reason: \u201cAll of this is their fault, and they have the audacity to sue me.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAfter just hours of deliberation on Wednesday, the jury sided entirely with Afroman, clearing him of liability for defamation or invasion of privacy: \u201cIn all circumstances, the jury finds in favor of the defendant,\u201d Judge Jonathan Hein said, speaking to the rapper, the accusers, and their lawyers. Afroman briefly bowed his head, but otherwise showed no emotion after the verdict was read.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe did it, America! Yeah, we did it! Freedom of speech! Right on! Right on!\u201d the rapper shouted outside the courthouse following the verdict in a clip he posted to social media. \u201cGod bless America!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe verdict ended a three-day trial that captivated social media with outlandish moments from the courtroom, including Afroman mounting a colorful defense from the witness stand in a flamboyant American flag suit; one of the deputies crying repeatedly as a video insulting her played for more than 10 minutes; and a testy exchange in which Afroman\u2019s lawyer asked another deputy if his wife was cheating on him.<\/p>\n \n\tThe outcome is a major win for Afroman, who could have faced a whopping $3.9 million damages award if he\u2019d lost. And it was a big loss for the officers, who sued him over allegations of unwanted attention only to see their testimony blasted to millions of people on X and TikTok during the trial. Attorneys for both sides did not immediately return requests for comment on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n \t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\tIn August 2022, the Adams County Sheriff\u2019s Department raided Afroman\u2019s home with guns drawn, smashing down his door and seizing $5,031 in cash and other property. They had a search warrant on suspicions of drug trafficking and kidnapping, but no wrongdoing was uncovered, no charges were ever filed and the money was later returned.<\/p>\n \n\tAfter the search, Afroman used his own surveillance camera footage to create music videos and other social posts mocking the officers. In a video for a song called \u201cLemon Pound Cake,\u201d he ridiculed one deputy for apparently eyeing a cake on his counter. In another social media post, he included images of officer Lisa Phillips alongside graphic statements about her anatomy and sexuality.<\/p>\n \n\tIn 2023, Phillips and six others (Shawn D. Cooley, Justin Cooley, Michael D. Estep, Shawn S. Grooms, Brian Newland and Randolph L. Walters, Jr.) filed a civil lawsuit<\/a> claiming they\u2019d suffered \u201cemotional distress\u201d and been \u201csubjected to threats, including death threats\u201d because of Afroman\u2019s posts. <\/p>\n \n\tAt trial in Adams County this week, Afroman told jurors from the witness stand that he had a constitutional right to make such artistic and critical content, particularly about government officials. That argument echoed what the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote in 2023, when it called the lawsuit against Afroman \u201cnothing short of absurd.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n \t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\t\u201cI got freedom of speech. After they run around my house with guns and kick down my door, I got the right to kick a can in my back yard, use my freedom of speech, and turn my bad times into a good time, yes I do,\u201d he told jurors on Tuesday. \u201cAnd I think I\u2019m a sport for doing so, because I don\u2019t go to their house, kick down their doors [and] then try to play the victim and sue them.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn another flashy moment on the stand, Afroman explained to jurors why he had later invited a local TV news crew to accompany him to the sheriff\u2019s station to get his money back \u2014 not because he wanted publicity, but because he feared for his safety.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI didn\u2019t wanna get beat up or Epstein\u2019d at the sheriff\u2019s station after I seen them running around my house with AR15s,\u201d the rapper said, referring to persistent internet rumors that infamous sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s prison suicide was staged and he was actually murdered. \u201cThat\u2019s why I brought the news and my attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe Adams County deputies themselves also took the stand, including Cooley, the officer Afroman referred to as \u201cOfficer Poundcake,\u201d who watched that music video in the courtroom. When Phillips got on the stand, she wept as a long video played in which Afroman labeled her \u201cLicc\u2019em Low Lisa\u201d and crudely suggested that she was a lesbian.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n \t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\tDuring one heated exchange, Walters testified about a video in which Afroman repeatedly says that he had sex with the officer\u2019s wife. Walters said listeners had understood that statement as factual and that it had caused him \u201ctremendous pain.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBut we all know that\u2019s not true, right?\u201d fired back David Osborne<\/strong>, the rapper\u2019s lawyer, to which Walters said that he didn\u2019t know. \u201cYou don\u2019t know if your wife\u2019s cheating on you or not?\u201d Osborne then asked, prompting Walters to angrily glare back and ask, \u201cYou wanna go there?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNo, I just wanna ask that question since you said we don\u2019t know,\u201d said Osborne, seemingly trying to suggest to jurors that the statement couldn\u2019t be proven true or false, a key requirement of a defamation claim.<\/p>\n \n\tIn their closing statements on Wednesday, attorneys for both sides clashed over the lofty free speech issues raised by Afroman\u2019s defense. Robert Klingler,<\/strong> the lawyer for the officers, told the jury that Afroman had \u201cperpetuated lies intentionally\u201d for years about public servants who had \u201crisked their lives for this county for years\u201d \u2014 and that his framing of the case as a First Amendment battle was \u201clegally wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMr. Foreman doesn\u2019t get to wrap himself in the American flag and say you can\u2019t touch me, I can say what I want, no matter how untrue it is, no matter how much pain it causes people, because I have freedom of speech,\u201d Klingler said. \u201cHe can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOsborne quickly fired back that he can, in fact, do that. In a closing statement that cited NWA<\/a>\u2019s \u201cF\u2013k Tha Police\u201d and Richard Pryor\u2019s comedy acts, Osborne told jurors that powerful public officials cannot use the courts to \u201csilence\u201d criticism simply because it hurt their feelings.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI\u2019m sorry they feel the way they do, but there\u2019s a certain amount that you have to take as a public official, it\u2019s part of the duties of the job,\u201d Osborne said. \u201cWhat chilling effect does that have on the world we live in? You don\u2019t like what a public official does and you make a joke, and you\u2019re dragged into court?\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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