Afroman sued by Ohio deputies over music videos showing raid of his home, says ‘I got freedom of speech’
A defiant rapper testified on Tuesday that he exercised free speech when he released music videos featuring images of Ohio deputies raiding his home, saying any suffering they claim in a lawsuit is due to “their mistake.”
Several Adams County sheriff’s deputies are suing Afroman, claiming they were needlessly harmed by music videos, most notably “Lemon Pound Cake,” which included security camera footage taken in 2022 when they served a search warrant looking for drugs at the performer’s home.
None were found and charges were never filed against the “Because I Got High” rapper, who was born Joseph Foreman.
Afroman took the witness stand wearing an American flag-patterned suit and said his actions are protected under the First Amendment.
“I got freedom of speech,” he told jurors. “After they run around my house with guns, kicked down my door, I got the right to kick a can in my backyard, use my freedom of speech, turn my bad times into a good time.”
“Yes I do, and I think I’m a sport for doing so because I don’t go to their house, kick down their doors, flip them off on their surveillance cameras, then try to play the victim and sue them,” he said.
The rapper said any hardships suffered by the deputies should be pinned on law enforcement.
“(This is all of) their fault for coming in my house in the first place,” the 51-year-old artist testified.
“So if they hadn’t come in my house, their children wouldn’t be saying nothing. None of this would be going on if they had did their research and did things right. So all of this is their fault, and now they want to sue me for their mistake.”
Asked if there’s anything that could “change your mind” about his creative actions, an indignant Afroman put it all back on law enforcement.
“Is there anything that can change my mind about the fact that they shouldn’t have been at my house in the first place?” Afroman rhetorically said.
“Is there anything that can change my mind about how my money shouldn’t have been touched in the first place? No.”
The title of song and video at the center of the lawsuite made light of one deputy who came through the busted door and seemed to take particular interest in a lemon loaf sitting under sitting under a cake glass in Afroman’s kitchen.
“The Adams County Sheriff kicked down my door,” according to Afroman’s song.
“Then I heard the glass break. They found no kidnapping victims. Just some lemon pound cake. Mama’s lemon pound cake. It tastes so nice. It made the sheriff wanna put down his gun. And cut him a slice.”
The “Lemon Pound Cake” video has been viewed more than 3.1 million times on YouTube.
In the song “Randy Walters is a Son of a Bitch,” the singer’s lyrics imply an extramarital affair between defendant and the wife of plaintiff Sgt. Randy Walters.
“When my daughter came home and advised me that she was getting messed with at school because apparently her mom is having sex with Afroman,” Walters told jurors.
“It’s horrible. It’s hard when your job that you’re doing which affects your family with affects you.”
First Appeared on
Source link
