Afroman and seven police officers who sued him for defamation wrapped up their trial on Wednesday (March 18), capping off a courtroom clash that saw the rapper defend himself from the witness stand: “All of this is their fault, and they have the audacity to sue me,” he said.
The rapper, known for his 2000 hit “Because I Got High,” testified this week that he had a First Amendment right to mock the officers in scathing social media posts after they aggressively raided his home in a guns-drawn search that ultimately saw no charges filed.
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“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 back yard, use my freedom of speech, and turn my bad times into a good time, yes I do,” he told jurors on Tuesday. “And I think I’m a sport for doing so, because I don’t go to their house, kick down their doors [and] then try to play the victim and sue them.”
The unusual case against the rapper (Joseph Forman) was filed in 2023 by members of an Ohio county sheriff’s department who conducted the 2022 raid on his property. After the search, Afroman released numerous videos mocking the officers, including one that called a particular deputy “Officer Poundcake.”
The lawsuit claimed the posts caused them severe emotional distress and even led to death threats. But it has rankled free speech advocates like the ACLU, which has called the case an attack on the First Amendment and “a meritless effort to use a lawsuit to silence criticism.”
That case went to trial this week in a small Ohio courthouse, featuring testimony from both the rapper and his accusers. And in their closing statements on Wednesday, attorneys for both sides clashed over the lofty free speech issues raised by Afroman’s defense.
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Robert Klingler, the lawyer for the officers, told the jury that Afroman had “perpetuated lies intentionally” about public servants who had “risked their lives for this county for years” — and that his framing of the case as a First Amendment battle was “legally wrong.”
“Mr. Foreman doesn’t get to wrap himself in the American flag and say you can’t 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,” Klingler said. “He can’t do that.”
David Osborne, the rapper’s lawyer, quickly fired back that he could, in fact, do exactly that. In a closing statement that cited NWA’s “F–k Tha Police” and Richard Pryor’s comedy acts, Osborne told jurors that powerful public officials cannot use the courts to “silence” criticism simply because it hurt their feelings.
“I’m sorry they feel the way they do, but there’s a certain amount that you have to take as a public official, it’s part of the duties of the job,” Osborne said. “What chilling effect does that have on the world we live in? You don’t like what a public official does and you make a joke, and you’re dragged into court?”
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Earlier in the week, the Adams County deputies themselves took the stand, including Shawn D. Cooley, the officer Afroman referred to as “Officer Poundcake,” who watched that music video in the courtroom. Another officer, Lisa Phillips, later wept on the witness stand as a long video played in which Afroman labeled her “Licc’em Low Lisa” and suggested she was a lesbian.
During one heated exchange, another officer, Randolph L. Walters, Jr., testified about a video in which Afroman repeatedly says that he had sex with Walters’ wife. Walters said listeners had understood that statement as factual and that it had caused him “tremendous pain.”
“But we all know that’s not true, right?” Osborne fired back — to which Walters said that he didn’t know. “You don’t know if your wife’s cheating on you or not?” Osborne then asked, prompting Walters to angrily glare back and ask, “You wanna go there?”
“No, I just wanna ask that question since you said we don’t know,” said Osborne, seemingly trying to suggest to jurors that the statement couldn’t be proven true or false, a key requirement of a defamation claim.
In another flashy moment of testimony, Afroman explained to jurors why he had later invited a local TV news crew to accompany him to the sheriff’s station to get back the $5,031 the cops seized — not because he wanted publicity, but because he feared for his safety.
“I didn’t wanna get beat up or Epstein’d at the sheriff’s station after I seen them running around my house with AR15s,” the rapper said, referring to persistent internet rumors that infamous sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein’s prison suicide was staged and that he was actually murdered. “That’s why I brought the news and my attorney.”
Following Wednesday’s closing statements, the jury began deliberating on whether the deputies had proven that Afroman was liable for defamation and false light invasion of privacy. If the jury sides with the officers, Klingler asked them to award a whopping $3.9 million in damages.
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