{"id":555744,"date":"2026-03-21T22:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T22:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/555744\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T22:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T22:10:09","slug":"afroman-succeeds-in-viral-lemon-pound-cake-police-defamation-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/555744\/","title":{"rendered":"Afroman succeeds in viral ‘Lemon Pound Cake’ police defamation trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

Afroman<\/a> has been cleared of wrongdoing after several Ohio police officers filed a lawsuit against him<\/a> for using footage from a police raid on his home in a series of mocking music videos.<\/p>\n

Deputies broke down the US rapper\u2019s door in 2022 as part of a drug and kidnapping investigation, but the raid didn\u2019t lead to any charges. His wife had filmed the raid, which was also captured on home security cameras.<\/p>\n

Subsequently, Afroman \u2013 best known for his 2000 hit \u2018Because I Got High\u2019 \u2013 used the footage in viral videos that ridiculed the officers, effectively inverting what he felt was an invasion of his privacy.<\/p>\n

The video for his track \u2018Lemon Pound Cake\u2019 was inspired by a deputy seemingly eyeing a cake in his kitchen in the footage, while another video questioned the gender and sexuality of a female officer.<\/p>\n

The former track currently has over 3.6 million views on YouTube, while another parody song, titled \u2018Will You Help Me Repair My Door\u2019, has had more than nine million.<\/p>\n

A retired deputy suing Afroman for defamation testified he doesn\u2019t know why the rapper nicknamed him \u201cOfficer Pound Cake,\u201d so Afroman\u2019s lawyer played the \u201cLemon Pound Cake\u201d video.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would admit that\u2019s you with the glasses walking by the lemon pound cake on the counter?\u201d pic.twitter.com\/dj9RL8leHW<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) March 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Seven sheriff\u2019s deputies sued him for defamation following the release of the videos<\/a>, but a jury has now sided with the colourful rapper after a brief three-day trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did it America! Yeah! We did it! Freedom of speech!\u201d Afroman yelled outside the Ohio court in a clip posted on social media after the verdict, where he gave evidence wearing a red, white and blue US flag-themed suit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole raid was a mistake,\u201d he told the court, per BBC News<\/a>. \u201cAll of this is their fault. If they hadn\u2019t have wrongly raided my house, there would be no lawsuit. I would not know their names. They wouldn\u2019t be on my home surveillance system, and there would be no songs, nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The deputies requested $3.9m (\u00a32.9m) damages for \u201chumiliation, ridicule, mental distress, embarrassment and loss of reputation\u201d, but the rapper argued he had a constitutional right to criticise public officials.<\/p>\n

One major point of contention was the release of a song that suggested that the wife of one of the officers, Randolph Walters Jr, had a sexual relationship with Afroman. \u201cIt\u2019s caused tremendous pain in my life,\u201d Walters Jr said. \u201cI been with that woman since middle school, I would hope she wouldn\u2019t. But you know what, once someone puts it out there for their fun and entertainment, it\u2019s out there, and it\u2019s a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walters said his child had been humiliated at school over Afroman\u2019s posts, and had come home afterwards in tears, while the deputies\u2019 lawyer Robert Klingler told the court the rapper had \u201cperpetuated lies intentionally\u201d about his clients.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in America.<\/p>\n

Police raided rapper Afroman\u2019s house. They didn\u2019t charge him with anything, but they trashed his home and stole $400.<\/p>\n

He captured the raid on CCTV.
He then dropped diss tracks roasting them.<\/p>\n

They sued him for defamation, and he won. pic.twitter.com\/ODHXA17FGC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) March 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEven if somebody does something to you that hurts you, that you think is wrong \u2013 like a search warrant execution that you think is unfair \u2013 that doesn\u2019t justify telling intentional lies designed to hurt people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the rapper\u2019s lawyer, David Osborne, countered that public officials could not use the courts to \u201csilence\u201d criticism simply because it hurt their feelings.<\/p>\n

\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.<\/p>\n

\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