Afroman Testifies In Court Over Defamation Lawsuit From Ohio Police Dept

Afroman took a stand for free speech after defending himself during a trial over a defamation lawsuit filed by the Adams County Sheriff's Office.

On Tuesday, March 17, the veteran rapper, born Joseph Foreman, appeared in a courtroom in Adams County, Ohio, as the trial for his defamation lawsuit began. Officers involved with the raid on his home in 2022 sued the "Because I Got High" rapper for using their likeness in music videos he made about them. In one viral video called "Lemon Pound Cake," Afroman alleged that one cop who entered his home was distracted by his mom's pound cake. In another video, he boasted about sleeping with a cop's wife.

“All of this is their fault,” Foreman said during his testimony. “If they hadn’t wrongly raided my house, there would be no lawsuit, I would not know their names, they wouldn’t be on my home surveillance system, and there would be no songs … my money would still be intact.”

Deputies from the Adams County Sheriff's Office raided Foreman's home in Adams County, Ohio, while he was out of town in August 2022. During the raid, officers were looking for evidence of drug trafficking and kidnapping, but couldn't find anything. Foreman was never charged with a crime, but the police officers still caused "significant damage" to his home, turned off some of his surveillance cameras, and confiscated over $4,000 in cash. When they gave back the cash, Foreman said the police admitted that some of his money was missing, at least $400.

Soon after the incident, Foreman used his own surveillance footage to make music videos about the police officers who conducted the raid. During the first day of the trial, WCPO reports that several deputies alleged music videos like “Batteram Hymns of the Police Whistle Blower” caused "humiliation, ridicule, mental distress, embarrassment, and loss of reputation." Foreman maintained that he only made the videos to help raise money to pay for the damages done to his home, which the Adams County Sheriff's Office declined to cover.

One officer, Deputy Lisa Phillips, burst into tears as Foreman's 13-minute video “Lick ‘em Low Lisa” played in court. Meanwhile, Sergeant Randolph Walters claims the lies Foreman told in his music videos directly impacted his family.

"It's hard when your job that you're doing affects your family, which affects you," Walters said. "I've been with my wife, for 28 years. She didn't have an affair with Mr. Foreman. She didn't make my daughter with Mr. Foreman, but now my family has to be harmed because of straight up, 100% lies."

The trial is still ongoing, but that hasn't stopped Foreman from dropping more videos. Soon after court was adjourned on Tuesday, the 51-year-old rapper shared a new music video called "Randy Walter’s a Son of a B***h." See that video plus more clips from the trial below.