Afroman keeps trolling cops after winning “Lemon Pound Cake” defamation case

Cops asked the jury for millions after Afroman used raid footage in music videos.

See full article...

 

[TenacityOverAptitude]

Exactly. This was CLEAR CUT 1st Amendment Protected Speech. I celebrate the victory, at a time when it seems like so much of the Constitution is being ignored and violated. I don't have to like Afroman's Trump affiliations, to be glad that cops can't get away with suing people for criticizing their illegal and/or abusive activities.

Afroman's friendliness with Trump make him a useful example in demonstrating to MAGA that free speech is for everyone. I can bring it up as an example of when the police try to stifle speech of someone "on their side!"

Who am I kidding. They'll make up some reason why free speech still shouldn't apply to their opponents.

 

[brewejon]

In Afroman’s memo, he counted the most surprising times when cops failed to prove his exaggerated statements weren’t true. For example, one officer, Randy Walters, was offended that Afroman said he slept with his wife, but curiously did not testify that this was false. Instead, Walters only testified that “he would hope that his wife would not have extramarital affairs,” Afroman’s memo said.

That is absolutely hilarious.

 

[no_free_lunches_for_ai]

This odd contradictory behavior isn't limited to black celebs; several leftist friends of mine voted for Trump. Why? For a variety of reasons but they all boil down to "Biden and Kamala didn't 100% perfectly solve <insert single issue here> so Trump must be the better choice":

• they thought Biden was terrible for Palestine so they voted for Trump (the irony being that he never wanted anything more than to wipe Palestinians off the planet and build hotels with gaudy statues of himself on the Gaza strip)
• they thought Biden didn't do enough to stop the war on Ukraine (not sure how they thought Trump would help here, he has never said anything other than "let Russia do whatever the hell they want")
• they thought Biden was terrible on inflation (again, the irony being that Trump's a billionaire and doesn't give two shits how much anything costs because it's all peanuts to him and his warmongering friends)
• they thought Biden didn't do anything to lower gas prices so they voted for Trump (and now we're recreating the 1970s oil crisis by bombing Iran and spiraling Venezuela into chaos)

There's more here but it really is kind of a simple pattern. Personally I've lost faith that liberals can ever break out of this vicious self-defeating cycle of purity-testing candidates and whining when evil people run the world.

TBH I find it very hard to believe they are "leftist" if they are voting republican. Sounds like they are actually "right-ist' but too scared/embarrassed/whatever to admit it.

 

[Jiraiya]

Terrible cops aside, what is going on with so many black celebs going MAGA? I'm asking this as a serious question as a white guy who does not understand. Just raw power-seeking? A "fuck you" to liberals who carry their own brand of racism? Something else?

How many, exactly? More than white celebs who have gone MAGA? Or less?

As a black guy who doesn't speak for all black guys, sometimes white people (liberal and conservative, but let's focus on just the liberals for now) need to stop thinking about black people as a monolithic block. We don't all think or believe the same things any more than white people do. Yes, it's an obvious thing to say, but then this question is also a less than astute observation.

Look at who and what Afroman is. He's a very minor celebrity who makes a living from creating parody entertainment. He's no "Weird Al" Yankovich in terms of his success. But he's also not a Candace Owens or Joe Rogan in terms of Trump-adjacent grifting. I would argue that he saw a one-time opportunity to make some money off of Trump and he took it. He's no more MAGA that you are.

When the cops decided (for reasons...) that he had to be involved with drugs and illegal activities they used the system (that also has reasons...) to take advantage of the fact that a black man dared to live in their predominantly white county. Their screwup gave him another opportunity make some money, and he took it.

He's a very minor celebrity. It's what they do.

 

[SteveDave_au]

That one jumped out at me too, especially coming right before "But none of them could prove that anything Afroman said was false or caused them economic harm."

The memo said:

PLAINTIFF BRIAN NEWLAND
During the trial testimony was presented that the Defendant had called Plaintiff Newland a "Pedophile", and a "Child Molester." When asked on cross, the Plaintiff articulated that he believed that the statements made by the Defendant, while nasty, were the Defendants personal opinion. As articulated opinions the statements can not support a claim for False Light. The Plaintiffs attorneys attempts to save Plaintiff Newlands case by articulating that the jury could fmd that the statements of the Defendant were fact. This is a misstatement of Ohio Law.

In Ohio, allegedly defamatory statements that constitute opinion enjoy an absolute privilege and may not give rise to a cause of action for defamation.P 'Once a determination is made that specific speech is "opinion," the inquiry is at an end." Thus, while the Plaintiffs attorney is attempting to save the case of Plaintiff Newland, his testimony that the statements were the Defendants opinions stopped any further analysis under false light.

I disagree with that. "Child molester" is a factual claim, not an opinion. But.... Brian Newland is apparently the one who said it. It sounds like his attorney understood the difference, but if the person complaining about a statement tells the court it was just an opinion, I guess the court can hold them to it. Maybe police should understand the law better?

So Brian Newlands brother William Newland was fired from the Peeples Police Department in Ohio after he was accused of providing obscene material to a juvenile.

It came up in his testimony that his brother was convicted of a misdemeanour (I think).

https://www.wlwt.com/article/former...e-or-harmful-material-court-docs-say/35571046

 

[zman54]

Afroman - Lemon Pound Cake (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)​

This upset them? Really?

 

[zman54]

Does their job description include stealing pound cake and disabling private security cameras?

No pound cake was harmed in the making of this video (AFAICT).

(Though, stealing pound cake would be icing.)

 

[Derecho Imminent]

...Lisa Phillips, the only female officer involved, was treated worst when Afroman described her with innuendo insinuating she was a lesbian.

Really? Thats the worst? In this day and age thats pretty pathetic to think its the worst insult. I must be missing something.

 

[Kyuu]

Really? Thats the worst? In this day and age thats pretty pathetic to think its the worst insult. I must be missing something.

It's safe to say that the female officer involved was treated to some incredibly misogynistic smears. It's obviously a good thing that this bullshit suit didn't go the officers' way (it should never have gone to trial, really), but Afroman is not a swell person.

 

[zman54]

It'd be extra funny if Afroman could prove it was true. . .

I think the ambiguity is funnier.

 

[user12121]

I'm actually more suprised he didn't have any drugs in his house.

 

[carbon60Unit]

But law enforcement in the US is famous for routinely breaking down doors of perfectly innocent people and then walking away, leaving the victim with, at the very least, costly property damage to clean up. And since they were "just doing their job", the government says "nope, you can't file a claim against us, you'll just have to pay for the damage yourself".

I think law enforcement would be vastly improved if the immunities that allow this were disposed of this and replaced by a policy of making good damaged individuals to the extent possible. Law enforcement is done on behalf of the citizens of a jurisdiction so the mistakes and unfortunate events which inevitably occur should be paid for by the jurisdiction. (What we have now is a sick reverse lottery where if you "win", you get to fork out huge amounts of money as a cost for law enforcement. A small group of innocents should not have to bear disportionate costs of law enforcement. This is externalizing LE costs.) And when the costs of misbehavior start to pile up and break budgets, maybe they will be a bit less storm trooper. ("What? Officer Fife's actions which destroyed that home mean we don't get our new super SWAT attack vehicle this year?") Insurance costs could price incompetent officials right out of their jobs. And of course, prosecute those guilty of misbehavior. Police should be held to high standards before the law, not above it.

Edit: clarify/expand

 

[ausername]

From what I've read Afroman is not MAGA, he merely met Trump at a Libertarian convention where he was looking for votes and promoting himself in his presidential run. Still though at a Libertarian convention looking for votes, not as bad as MAGA but still not good.

If you want to see one of the worst cross examinations watch this Afroman cross exam

 

[DrewW]

Terrible cops aside, what is going on with so many black celebs going MAGA? I'm asking this as a serious question as a white guy who does not understand. Just raw power-seeking? A "fuck you" to liberals who carry their own brand of racism? Something else?

There are a few different things going on here:

The MAGA audience is huge, loyal, and underserved. So Candace Owens is serving them lots of red meat that I’m sure she knows is bullshit. This is exactly like when Tucker Carlson couldn’t hack it in mainstream media and went to upstart Fox.

Kanye, Nicky Minaj, Afroman, and other performers of a certain age have lost their audience and ability to shock, so they go MAGA. If Kanye’s Life of Pablo or Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 had sold anything close to their earlier records they would have stayed out of politics. Instead, they are trying to sell into that 30ish percent of America that voted for trump.

Many black people also believe the status quo is still against them and would have voted for anyone willing to upset the status quo. A few of my friends and the rapper Sexxxy Red have said their lives didn’t get better under Obama or Biden, so why not vote trump. This is the same reason a lot of rust belt Americans voted trump. Good luck convincing them it’s a class problem, not a race problem, and Bernie would have helped them way more.

I think trump somehow also magically convinces people he isn’t racist, all evidence to the contrary.

 

[Steven N]

Walters—whom Afroman called “Gomer Pyle” after the slow-to-pick-up-on-things Andy Griffith Showcharacter—also testified that there was no way to prove he wasn’t a “son of a bitch.” His mother had been dead “for years,” Walters testified.

lol, this is a Leslie Nielsen level of hilarious!

 

[lolaGetz]

While the Washington Post seems unaware that its slogan became "Democracy Died in Darkness" the day Bezos began suppressing content, the rest of us can still carry a flashlight. It'll require much more than individual action to defeat the crypto-fascist surveillance state the U.S. is becoming, but still… Pissing off the bad guys makes a nice hobby.

 

[s73v3r]

This odd contradictory behavior isn't limited to black celebs; several leftist friends of mine voted for Trump. Why? For a variety of reasons but they all boil down to "Biden and Kamala didn't 100% perfectly solve <insert single issue here> so Trump must be the better choice":

• they thought Biden was terrible for Palestine so they voted for Trump (the irony being that he never wanted anything more than to wipe Palestinians off the planet and build hotels with gaudy statues of himself on the Gaza strip)
• they thought Biden didn't do enough to stop the war on Ukraine (not sure how they thought Trump would help here, he has never said anything other than "let Russia do whatever the hell they want")
• they thought Biden was terrible on inflation (again, the irony being that Trump's a billionaire and doesn't give two shits how much anything costs because it's all peanuts to him and his warmongering friends)
• they thought Biden didn't do anything to lower gas prices so they voted for Trump (and now we're recreating the 1970s oil crisis by bombing Iran and spiraling Venezuela into chaos)

There's more here but it really is kind of a simple pattern. Personally I've lost faith that liberals can ever break out of this vicious self-defeating cycle of purity-testing candidates and whining when evil people run the world.

Anybody who voted for Trump in 2024 is nowhere near close to being a leftist. And anyone who thought he would make anything better, especially after seeing his first term, is an idiot

 

[matthewmspace]

Obviously Afroman sucks since he's MAGA, but it's very good precedent that he beat the cops for his defamation suit.

 

[Ardrid]

Terrible cops aside, what is going on with so many black celebs going MAGA? I'm asking this as a serious question as a white guy who does not understand. Just raw power-seeking? A "fuck you" to liberals who carry their own brand of racism? Something else?

Grifting is lucrative, particularly when the only values you have are tied to power and money. Racists love being able to point to the "black friend" who agrees with them, so much so that they will pay you handsomely if you wish to fill that role. They'll even put you on the Supreme Court and lavish you with gifts and vacations if you're a good enough boy.

That said, I think the internet is doing a lot of assuming by labeling Afroman MAGA. Fuck MAGA and fuck the police!

 

[ItchyPoo]

...who really hoped to make a comeback performing his thigh-slapping ditty about Hunter Biden's drug problems at Trump rallies.

...who hilariously called the cops pedophiles and threw in some super-funny bonus homophobia.

Sure, he should have won, and sure, the cops were in the wrong and disgusting. I just don't get the unabashed celebration of this victory. Maybe not everyone read the entire article?

You can love the victory and still dislike the man

 

[trashcanman]

The Streisand Effect and that American flag suit, FTW!

 

[SeeUnknown]

Personally I've lost faith that liberals can ever break out of this vicious self-defeating cycle of purity-testing candidates and whining when evil people run the world.

For example when they ran Al Franken out of office based on a staged photograph, while ignoring his voting record.

 

[NoReallyJustSaying]

I mean, it is worth celebrating. That Afroman fucking sucks as a person doesn't diminish or justify overreach by the state.

We're just going to have to agree to disagree on that. For me, the joy of winning a court case over some scumbag cops is very much tempered by what a massive piece of shit Afroman is.

Like I said from the get, yes, this is a just and proper outcome, but I can barely get beyond a "yay".

For comparison: YouTube is bombarding me with competing ads from Uber and ambulance-chasing lawyers. They are both dogshit and should rot in hell sooner than later. Who do I root for here? I'm sure there's a legal angle that makes one side "right" -- just like Afroman was "right" in this instance. Yay. Both sides are fucking garbage, and forgive me if I'm not super-enthused for whichever way the case went.

 

[NoReallyJustSaying]

For example when they ran Al Franken out of office based on a staged photograph, while ignoring his voting record.

Oh, there was a little more to it than that. Franken did a bunch of unsavory shit, and I'm not necessarily against him getting booted.

But if Franken deserved to be booted, Gaetz and Trump should have been dunked into the Pacific with lead galoshes -- and not only were they elected as known pedophiles, they were RE-elected as known pedophiles. What SENATOR Franken did is not even on the same planet as a tenth of the horrific and gross shit that our now second-term PRESIDENT did and does.

 

[Bernardo Verda]

You can love the victory and still dislike the man

Justice isn't Justice, if it's only available to the people we like.

Though I'm not very familiar with Afroman, based on what I've seen of his work I'm inclined to think that I wouldn't care for him at all -- but this was justice, and he clearly deserved the win.

 

[Bernardo Verda]

For example when they ran Al Franken out of office based on a staged photograph, while ignoring his voting record.

"God protect me from my friends -- my enemies I can deal with on my own."

 

[D.Becker]

Agree. Did they not file for summary judgement, or was it denied?

Partial summary judgement was granted, all in favor of Afroman, but several claims survived.

Notably the most important claim was kicked out, which was Afroman profiting off of the images and likeness of the police officers involved.

This was a win for free speech for several reasons. The most obvious was that a successful 'likeness' claim could make taking videos of police effectively illegal. If you nominally have the right to video official actions, but have to get a license to show their likeness, then you don't have the right at all.

But the other claims were related, and could indirectly have had the same effect. The damage asked was $3.9M -- enough to give almost anyone pause before publicizing official wrong-doing. (But don't miss that the plaintiffs' lawsuit largely wasn't about principle, reputation, or the right to video, it was about money. Lots of money.)

 

[Bernardo Verda]

TBH I find it very hard to believe they are "leftist" if they are voting republican. Sounds like they are actually "right-ist' but too scared/embarrassed/whatever to admit it.

Of the four "rationales" provided, I certainly saw plenty of the first two points from American (and Canadian) "progressives", "liberals", and "leftists".
I saw much less (but not none) for the second two points as well).

While JS Mill was correct that stupid people generally lean "conservative", there's plenty of fools on the left too.

 

[jason8957]

I don't see good guys in this story. Maybe members of the jury. Aaachkkk.

 

[Kyuu]

While JS Mill was correct that stupid people generally lean "conservative", there's plenty of fools on the left too.

There's a lot of a "I refuse to vote for the lessor of two evils" attitude, I think. Which on its own isn't necessarily a bad thing, we should be able to expect better from our elected representatives. However, you can't take that attitude and then be astonished at the evil perpetrated by the obviously greater evil that ended up prevailing.

Practically speaking, that attitude is fine to prevail during primaries and trying to get election reform done. But when it comes down to you're either going to get the greater evil or the lessor evil to become the head of the wealthiest and most powerful nation on Earth, you enthusiastically choose the goddamn lessor evil every time.

 

[SparkyMalone315]

Afroman is not MAGA he ran for president as an independent against Trump. The primary pillars of his platform were legalization, regulation and taxation of controlled substances and sex work and an end to qualified immunity.

He also led a fuck Trump chant last time I saw him in concert.

Edit* control switched to regulation

 

[SparkyMalone315]

I had never heard anything about this case, the songs, or even Afroman before reading this article. I found it amusing and was going to lookup the songs until I got to this part:



I really don't like how such a serious thing has become a casual insult that people throw around. Thanks, Elon? I'm also not a fan of the other nickname and innuendo either. It really threw cold water on what is otherwise an amusing story.

Well the guys brother testified that he does in fact have "legal conviction involving a minor" that he did not want to elaborate on.

 

[Jubs]

Jury should award Afroman $420,000.

 

[dahorns]

(But don't miss that the plaintiffs' lawsuit largely wasn't about principle, reputation, or the right to video, it was about money. Lots of money.)

That's all plaintiffs in our civil justice can really ask for, so I take issue with that particular attack. Everything else you said is right on.

 

[Quasius]

How many, exactly? More than white celebs who have gone MAGA? Or less?

As a black guy who doesn't speak for all black guys, sometimes white people (liberal and conservative, but let's focus on just the liberals for now) need to stop thinking about black people as a monolithic block. We don't all think or believe the same things any more than white people do. Yes, it's an obvious thing to say, but then this question is also a less than astute observation.

Look at who and what Afroman is. He's a very minor celebrity who makes a living from creating parody entertainment. He's no "Weird Al" Yankovich in terms of his success. But he's also not a Candace Owens or Joe Rogan in terms of Trump-adjacent grifting. I would argue that he saw a one-time opportunity to make some money off of Trump and he took it. He's no more MAGA that you are.

When the cops decided (for reasons...) that he had to be involved with drugs and illegal activities they used the system (that also has reasons...) to take advantage of the fact that a black man dared to live in their predominantly white county. Their screwup gave him another opportunity make some money, and he took it.

He's a very minor celebrity. It's what they do.

Yeah, MAGA is way bigger in white circles and it's a white problem and I apologize for any implications to the contrary. But given how abhorrently racist the movement is, it's hard to see how it attracts even a small following of non-whites. Anyway, enough of my words. Thanks for your perspective.

 

[-Gman]

Good, fuck them dumb cops. They always think they can do anything and get away with it. They need to fucking know they have to follow the law instead of following their butthurt....

End qualified immunity and make the police pension pay out any verdicts against the police

 

[crepuscularbrolly]

Justice isn't Justice, if it's only available to the people we like.

…

Louder for the people in the back.

 

[omarsidd]

Glad this went the way it did, no way he should have had to go through the painful, expensive process of battling false legal claims.

Sadly our adversarial system doesn't punish abusive authorities acting in an official capacity, even SLAPP takes some effort even where it's been legislated, and doesn't personally and directly penalize the offending parties. The honorable outcome would be their demotion, firing, blacklisting from LEO or municipal employment, public caning, or some combination.

Real penalties for real offenses. As opposed to their contrived raid and abusive practices. followed by continued employment in the same field which they offended in.

seven brave deputy sheriffs

They would only be brave by exercising an honor code...

All that said, Afroman's maga-ism is offensive to every PoC struggling against fascism. I don't understand the black celebs who think it's edgy or whatever to be pro-n@zi. Like, why? Seriously (why). "This Trump guy would insult my mother as sub-human, isn't he cool!!"

 

[Immunodominance]

But when it comes down to you're either going to get the greater evil or the lessor evil to become the head of the wealthiest and most powerful nation on Earth, you enthusiastically choose the goddamn lessor evil every time.

Generally agree, but when the "lesser evil" is actively arming and assisting the perpetuation of a vast genocide, this argument becomes...challenging.

So yes, "assisting a genocide while also destroying essential institutions, covering for billionaire pedophiles, debasing and corrupting the entire government, attempting to overthrow free and fair elections, etc. etc." is worse than merely "assisting a genocide".

But anyone "enthusiastically choosing the goddamn lesser evil" in this context is quite inappropriately enthusiastic.

Unless they're pro-genocide, I suppose.

 

[Tinkiewinkle]

Yeah, MAGA is way bigger in white circles and it's a white problem and I apologize for any implications to the contrary. But given how abhorrently racist the movement is, it's hard to see how it attracts even a small following of non-whites. Anyway, enough of my words. Thanks for your perspective.

Same as the white MAGAs, they’re lying to themselves because they’re desperate to feel special and that overrides all logic. Stupidly voting against things that would help you is a required part of MAGA.