American rapper Afroman has been acquitted after police sued him over the use of footage of his home raid rap

US rapper Afroman has been cleared of wrongdoing after Ohio police sued him, alleging defamation, emotional distress and invasion of privacy after the artist used footage of a police raid on his home in a series of parody videos.

In 2022, police searched the rapper’s home for evidence of drug possession, trafficking and kidnapping. No evidence was found and no charges were filed.

His wife filmed the raid on her phone, and the video was recorded on the home’s surveillance cameras. Afroman used this footage to film videos in which he mocked the officers and the judge who issued the arrest warrant. He also claimed that his property was damaged in the raid and that $400 in cash was taken from his home.

The videos referred to the officers as “Adams KKKcounty” and made crude and crude jokes, including questioning the officer’s gender and sexuality. The video for the song Lemon Pound Cake – named after the cake the officer looked at in footage of the raid – has been viewed 3.5 million times on YouTube.

The lawsuit claimed that the videos broadcast by Afroman violated the officers’ privacy and were “intentional, wanton and malicious.” It also claimed that his actions endangered the officers, who “suffered humiliation, ridicule, mental distress, embarrassment and loss of reputation.”

During the three-day trial, plaintiffs’ attorneys claimed that Afroman “intentionally, repeatedly, and perpetuated lies over three and a half years online about the city’s seven brave sheriff’s deputies.”

But Afroman and his legal team defended the videos as comedic, saying they cannot be construed as statements of fact. “Some of it is social commentary, but it’s not reality. Everyone knows that,” attorney David Osborne Jr. said.

One video jokingly suggested that the wife of one of the officers, Randolph Walters Jr., had a sexual relationship with Afroman. “It has caused me tremendous pain in my life,” Walters Jr. said. “I’ve been with that woman since middle school, and I hope she doesn’t. But you know, once someone puts it out there for fun and entertainment, it’s there, and that’s a problem.”

The jury sided with Afroman. “I didn’t win, America won,” he said after the ruling, speaking to local news service WCPO. “America still has freedom of speech. It’s still for the people by the people…that whole thing. It’s still that way.” [the police force’s] flaw. They broke into my house, put themselves in front of my video cameras, and got into my music career. With my freedom of expression, I had the right to talk about the events going on in my life, with my family, with my friends and with my fans.

Afroman is known for his comedic rap style, most famously for his 2000 song “Because I Got High,” which blamed a series of unfortunate scenarios — paraplegia, homelessness, sexual dysfunction — on his drug use. It reached number one in the UK charts and top 20 in the US. The accompanying album The Good Times peaked at number ten in the US.

Although Afroman never reached similar commercial heights again, he released 18 studio albums and remains popular on social media and YouTube.