Ohio-based rapper Afroman is being sued by seven police officers after he reportedly used footage from a 2022 home raid to make and promote his new music.
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The lawsuit states the footage used from a search of Joseph Edgar Foreman’s home on August 21, 2022, where the seven officers looked for evidence of marijuana and drug paraphernalia related to drug possession and trafficking, plus kidnapping. Foreman is well known for his hit song, “Because I Got High,” but he wasn’t home during the search and had security cameras in his home that recorded the officers.
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Adams County Sheriff’s Deputies Shawn Cooley, Justin Cooley, Shawn Grooms, Lisa Phillips, Michael Estep, Randolf Walters Jr., and detective sergeant Brian Newland claimed Foreman used the video records to make music and music videos about the search. Additionally, videos and images were distributed throughout various social media platforms, and they say it “clearly portrays” their images and likeness.
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The deputies are suing for the unauthorized use of an individual’s persona, invasion of privacy by misappropriation, and invasion of privacy by false light publicity. They also requested a trial by jury for the suit. The video clips posted on Foreman’s Instagram show the deputies breaking down the door with weapons.
According to CBS News, one of the clips is reportedly the inspiration for the official music video for his song “Lemon Pound Cake.”
He made an abums worth of songs about this. Afroman is a legendhttps://t.co/o7oZJK2I0F
— $Kekin (@Kekin41) March 24, 2023
One of the officers was referenced as “Officer Poundcake” after they were caught on camera repeatedly staring at a pound cake on the kitchen counter. The name was also used on promotional merchandise. Each officer was reportedly singled out on social media, and the suit claims they were “subjected to ridicule” and made it more difficult for them to do their jobs.
“Plaintiffs have suffered damages, including all profits derived from and attributable to Defendants’ unauthorized use of Plaintiffs’ personas, and have suffered humiliation, ridicule, mental distress, embarrassment, and loss of reputation,”
However, Foreman said the search was based on a “false warrant” and alleged that the Adams County authorities put him in a position to be killed.
“Essentially, a racist judge signed a fictitious, false warrant, lying on the warrant, accusing me of kidnapping and drug trafficking. The warrant put the Adams county sheriff in a position to attempt to kill me, after the Adams County Sheriff. Burglarized, vandalized, and destroyed my property. They became thieves and stole my money. After they stole my money, they became criminals. After they became criminals, they lost their right to privacy. My house is my property, my video camera films, everything on my property. As they began stealing my money, disconnecting, plus destroying my video camera system, they became my property! Criminals caught in the act, of vandalizing and stealing money. My video footage is my property. I used it to identify the criminals who broke into my house and stole my money. I used it to identify criminals, who broke into my house, stole my money and disconnected my home security system. I use the footage of my property to raise money to pay for the damages they done and to identify the criminals operating inside of the sheriff department that stole my money Ramsack my house and disconnected my video cameras.”