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If you were online on St. Patrick\u2019s Day<\/a>, then you probably saw Afroman<\/a> testifying about being a good sport and went, \u201cHuh?\u201d Seven members of an Ohio sheriff\u2019s office are suing \u201cBecause I Got High\u201d rapper Afroman (born Joseph Edgar Foreman) for defamation. Here\u2019s everything you need to know now that a jury has cleared him of all charges.<\/p>\n Seven members of the Adams County sheriff\u2019s department are suing Foreman for defamation. According to the L.A. Times<\/a>, their suit claims he used their likenesses without permission and spread lies about them. The alleged defamation took place after they raided Afroman\u2019s home in 2022, and Afroman made multiple songs and music videos about the incident. Afroman used personal security-camera footage of the raid extensively in these videos. He also sold merch relating to the raid, which resulted in zero charges being filed.<\/p>\n Local news station WKRC<\/a> had the amounts each cop was seeking in damages. Lisa Philips sought $1.5 million. Both Brian Newland and Randy Walters sought $1 mil. And Shawn Grooms, Shawn Cooley, Justin Cooley and Mike Estep wanted $400,000 divided amongst them.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Quite a few<\/a>. \u201cLemon Pound Cake<\/a>\u201d was the lead single of the album of the same name in 2023. To the tune of \u201cUnder the Boardwalk,\u201d Afroman sings about an officer who was captured on-camera eyeing the cake on his kitchen counter. \u201cWill You Help Repair My Door\u201d is about the damages incurred by the raid, as is \u201cWhy You Disconnecting My Video Camera.\u201d In the lead-up to the trial, Afroman released additional songs singling out specific officers. \u201cLicc\u2019em Low Lisa\u201d dropped on YouTube just five days ago. \u201cThey played the whole video<\/a> in court yesterday and it was super awkward,\u201d one Reddit court watcher noted<\/a>. \u201cRandy Walter Is a Son of a Bitch\u201d personally questions the character of officer Randy Walters and jokes that Foreman had sex with his wife, which came up in testimony.<\/p>\n Adams County issued a warrant to search Foreman\u2019s house pursuant to drug-trafficking and kidnapping charges, which were never brought. During the raid, they broke Afroman\u2019s gate and door and caused other damage to his property. All this was caught on Foreman\u2019s security cameras. He also alleges $400 went missing after the raid.<\/p>\n Regarding the specific defamation he claims to have suffered, Randy Walters could not say for certain that Afroman did not have sex with his wife, saying<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019ve been with that woman since middle school. I would hope she wouldn\u2019t. But you know what? Once somebody puts it out there for their fun and entertainment, it\u2019s out there, and it\u2019s a problem.\u201d Nor could he testify that his mother was not a bitch. \u201cShe\u2019s been dead for years,\u201d he said on cross-examination.<\/p>\n \u201cI am sorry about your mother on that, but you would agree, though, that when someone calls someone a son of a bitch, it\u2019s not necessarily a statement of fact?\u201d Afroman\u2019s lawyer replied. \u201cIt\u2019s more a statement of opinion or description of a person?\u201d<\/p>\n Foreman maintains that all the blame lies at the feet of Adams County. \u201cThe whole raid was a mistake. All of this is their fault,\u201d he said on Tuesday. \u201cIf they hadn\u2019t 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 @meghannmcuniff<\/a> <\/p>\n The lawyer suing rapper Afroman for allegedly defaming Ohio sheriff’s officials who raided his property finished questioning him today by asking him if there’s “anything that could change your mind about what you’re doing to these deputies?” “Is there anything that can change my mind about the fact that they shouldn’t have been at my house in the first place? Is there anything that can change my mind about how my money shouldn’t have been touched in the first place? No,” Afroman, legal name Joseph Edgar Foreman, told plaintiffs’ attorney Robert A. Klinger. “That’s all the questions I have. Thank you,” Klinger said.”You’re welcome,” Afroman said. Afroman’s lawyer is expected to call him as a witness in his case in chief this week at the Adams County Courthouse in West Union, Ohio. Trial began Monday in the lawsuit, which alleges Afroman defamed and put sheriff’s deputies in a false light by repeatedly lampooning them after they searched his property in 2022. Afroman was never charged with a crime, and he ridiculed the raid in social media posts and in the music video to his hit song “Lemon Pound Cake.” He’s suggested one deputy is a pedophile and said he had sex with another’s wife. He testified today that the sheriff’s officials “never should have came to my house in the first place.” “Fact, if they hadn’t came to my house, they wouldn’t have put themselves on the video camera and in my music career. All of this is their fact. All of this is their fault, and they have … the audacity to sue me,” he said. “So what they did, searching your house, gave you the right to do everything you \u2014” Klinger said as Afroman cut him off. “Under the circumstance that I 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 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,” Afroman said. You can watch more of Afroman’s testimony here @Meghann Cuniff, here @Meghann Cuniff and here @Meghann Cuniff. #law<\/a> #rap<\/a> #police<\/a> <\/p>\n \u266c original sound – Meghann Cuniff<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cUnder the circumstance that I 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 backyard, use my freedom of speech, turn my bad times into a good time. Yes, I do, and I think I\u2019m a sport for doing so,\u201d Foreman added, \u201cbecause I don\u2019t go to their house, kick down their doors, flip them off on their surveillance cameras, then try to play the victim and sue them.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawyer and TikToker Reb Masel emphasized that the case is but one in a long list of lawsuits over parody, freedom of speech, and the rights of public figures and servants compared to those of private citizens. \u201cThere is nothing the First Amendment protects more zealously than criticism of matters of public concern,\u201d Masel said. \u201cWhen you are a public servant, when you are acting in your official capacity as a police officer, that is a matter of public concern. You open yourself up to criticism, including parody.\u201d Essentially, comedy is indeed legal.<\/p>\n Afroman. But in a greater sense, it was a victory for free speech and comedy. According to Bloomberg<\/a>, a jury cleared Foreman of defamation.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Vulture Daily<\/p>\n An entertainment newsletter for the pop-culture obsessed.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n