For a quick read, go here: "Afroman found not liable in bizarre defamation case brought by Ohio cops who raided his home" (NY Post): "The hip hop star wrote the satirical song 'Lemon Pound Cake' and made a music video with real footage of the raid taken from his home surveillance cameras to raise money for property damage caused during the search, he has said. Seven cops with the sheriff’s office then sued him in March 2023, alleging the music video defamed them, invaded their constitutional privacy, and was an intentional infliction of emotional distress...."
Here's penguinz0 with clips from the trial and mockery of the plaintiffs for their Streisand effect problem:
Here's Afroman's impressive testimony.
Here's "Lemon Pound Cake," one of the songs that led to the lawsuit, with the security camera footage of the cop's cake double-take:
Afroman, after the trial: "When life give you lemons, you make lemon pound cake."
"Lemon Pound Cake" alludes to Afroman's hit song from 2001, "Because I Got High." So here's that video (directed by Kevin Smith):
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49 comments:
"If time, subjectively, makes us change taste, it also, objectively, makes things change flavor." - Don Colacho
We can perhaps begin to describe our very unusual time in man's history as "the lemon pound cake years." In a generation, this will all happen again in some form, but it might be a chocolate pound cake next time.
I won't be here to see it, but I've left a marker right here for posterity, much like our friend, the esteemed Afroman. After all, if Afroman had been high, would there have been any lemon pound cake?
I think not, as I review my own lived experience.
…a well deserved lawsuits I hope will fail tag…
Here’s a comment for Hanna Knox Jensen and John Thomas.
The Knox County Sheriff is jeopardizing the public safety of Knox County because the Sheriff won’t follow a law that has been in effect since 1866. None of the Knox County deputies are legally hired. They haven’t signed the statutory oath and it has not been filed with the County Clerk. Any arrests made by a Knox County Deputy are subject to a Motion to Dismiss.
Don Henery, the Knox County Sheriff, is incompetent. He should not be re-elected.
I have a First Amendment right to criticize public officials.
So, go right ahead and publish this full verbatim comment in the Knox County News.
Check out Afroman's "Hunter Got High." That it wasn't nominated for a Grammy is even a worse scandal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgLD1yhxNik&list=RDOgLD1yhxNik&start_radio=1
Note to self: Like moths to the flame, few people respond quickly or correctly when in a celebrity conflict. You must read the crowd correctly or you'll get burned to a crisp.
The only trick is to figure out whether the public perceives you as a friend, or yucky like Meghan Markle and Barbra Sreisand.
Such talent.....
Because I Got High 2009
Song by
Afroman
It's Like, I don't care about nothin man,
roll another blunt, Yea (ohh ohh ohh),
La da da da da da La, Da Daaa,
La da da da, La da da da, La da da daaa
I was gonna clean my room until I got high
I was gonna get up and find the broom but then I
got high
my room is still messed up and I know why (why
man?) yea heyy,
- cause I got high (La da da da da da da da da)
I was gonna go to class before I got high
I coulda cheated and I coulda passed but I got
high
(La da da da da da da da da)
I am taking it next semester and I know why,
(why man?) yea heyy,
- cause I got high (La da da da da da da da da)
I was gonna go to work but then I got high
I just got a new promotion but I got high
now I'm selling dope and I know why (why man?)
yea heayy,
- cause I got high (La da da da da da da da da)
I was gonna go to court before I got high
I was gonna pay my child support but then I got
high
they took my whole paycheck and I know why
(why man?) yea heayy,
- cause I got high (La da da da da da da da da)
I wasn't gonna run from the cops but I was high
I was gonna pull right over and stop but I was
high
(La da da da da da da da da)
Now I am a paraplegic and i know why (why
man?) yea heayy,
- because I got high (La da da da da da da da da)
I was gonna pay my car note until I got high
I wasn't gonna gamble on the boat but then I got
high
now the tow truck is pulling away and I know
why (why man?) yea heyy,
- because I got high (La da da da da da da da da)
I was gonna make love to you but then I got high
I was gonna eat yo pussy too but then I got high
now I'm jacking off and I know why, yea heyy,
- cause I got high (La da da da da da da da da)
I messed up my entire life because I got high
I lost my kids and wife because I got high
now I'm sleeping on the sidewalk and I know why
(why man?) yea heyy,
- cause I got high (La da da da da da da da da)
I'm gonna stop singing this song because I'm
high
I'm singing this whole thing wrong because I'm
high
and if I dont sell one copy I know why (why
man?) yea heyy,
- cause I'm high La da da da da da, La da da da, Shoop shooby
doo wop.
Get jiggy wit it, skibbidy bee bop diddy do wahhh
- cause I'm high (hey where the cluck at cuz) Well my name is afroman and I'm from east
pomdale (east-pom-dale)
and all the tolweed I be smokin is bomb as
helllllll (excelent delivery)
I don't beleive in Hitler, that's what I said (oh my
goodness)
so all of you skins (skins) please give me more
head
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qL02peSWwg&list=RD8qL02peSWwg&start_radio=1
The lawyers for those cops should be under an ethics investigation. The correct answer to the cops when they asked about a potential lawsuit should have been, "Dude, take the L and move and on."
Shaming appears to be very effective, n'est-ce pas?
I agree with the tag, but I hope defendant has a counter suit and wins.
I like Afroman's suit. I wonder what the motivation of the Sheriff's deputies was to bring the suit. Were they upset that other people were laughing at them? Or were they angry that someone who they viewed as lower status than them was pushing back. Some law enforcement agents think of the population at large, especially those they interact with, as beneath them and the only allowable negative interactions can only flow downwards never upwards.
The Afroman case is so emblematic of the farcical degeneracy of the criminal and civil justice systems.
Go Afroman! But what's the back story here? Who was the informant? What's her story? Did she have a beef with Afroman, leading her to make up a story to get the police to SWAT him? Did the cops know she was an unreliable informant, but have it in for Afroman?
TheDopeFromHope said...
Check out Afroman's "Hunter Got High." That it wasn't nominated for a Grammy is even a worse scandal.
Thanks for that link. Great song.
My son has been talking about Afroman's trial for the past few days. I had no idea Afroman was the guy behind "Because I Got High." I remember that song, and I don't get high. Had no idea it was by an Ohioan.
"…a well deserved lawsuits I hope will fail tag…"
A little inapt because I'm "hoping" after it has already failed. But believe me, I saw the lawsuit before the decision came in and wanted it to fail. Didn't find time to blog it earlier.
I like how "Because I Got High" works as both pro- and anti- marijuana. According to Wikipedia, Afroman has avoided answering the question whether the song is promoting marijuana or cautioning us against it.
Afroman is an American patriot. Fought back against an unreasonable search and seizure through creative mockery. Defended his First Amendment rights when attacked for the mockery. Convinced a jury the other side had no case while dressed like Betsy Ross' pimp. Legend.
Well, of course Ms Ann. If he sides either for or against he loses half his listeners.
Very talented guy.
Having lived a milder version of Because I Got High, I don't see how there's anything pro marijuana about it. I love that song but still cringe thinking back on how much time I wasted being wasted.
The coppers may have sued in order to win the race to the courthouse, just in case Afroman was planning to sue them or their agency was planning disciplinary action or the state or federal prosecutors were planning to do them on civil rights. Getting civil discovery started and locking Afroman into one version of the truth in depositions would help the coppers in any of those scenarios. They might also have been hoping that the threat of discovery might frighten Afroman away from taking or supporting any legal action lest his real crimes be found out.
Also coppers are sick of being doxed. So immediate legal counteroffensive against anything remotely approaching doxxing will help deter the phenomenon.
I wonder if their union or professional liability insurance funded the effort.
Here's my theory on why the Sheriff brough the lawsuit: He arrives to the station the day after the video is posted and finds a slice of lemon pound cake on his desk... Fill in the rest.
And now we know what the Crack MC has been up to!
Lemon pound cake song and video = clever!
I approve. The officer looking at the cake on the counter iz lolz
After being publicly shamed for their investigative incompetence, the cops apparently felt an urgent need to be publicly shamed for being massive pussies.
Obscured by the spectacle of this case was a critical principle: Americans have a right to view and comment on the activities of those we have hired and entrusted to enforce our laws. It does not violate their privacy and it should not injure their feelings. Grow up and do your job.
They busted my door when it was so late
I fought the Law and the... Law ate.
I fought the Law and the... Law ate.
They were looking for dope but found Lemon Cake
I fought the Law and the... Law ate.
I fought the Law and the... Law ate.
No police officer has a "right to privacy" while on the job, let alone while in someone's home.
For making that claim, every one of them should be fired, and should never get a job as law enforcement officers, ever again, in any capacity.
Good job Afroman
No police officer does anything not commanded by their superiors. They're just the ones who get doxxed. Afroman should have gone after those ordering the raid, and their superiors. He should understand that.
Also didn't we just have a thread about the use of dead stars' likenesses? The elites who are so worried an AI Elvis will tarnish his living oeuvre and put future human Elvises out of work, don't seem to mind $60K/yr coppers' likenesses being used to attract eyeballs and eardrums. It's either wrong for everyone or right for everyone. CC, JSM
Apollo Creed in the court room,
https://media.entertainmentearth.com/assets/images/cd3b41f7fe9e4c10a4ce9e10450b40f3xl.jpg
How did this thing ever get to trial? Pre-trial motions should have tossed this case. Ohio law isn't clear that public officials don't have expectations to privacy when performing official acts?
Why does Afroman have surveillance cameras inside his home? Previous break-ins? He's not likely to get good service from the cops in future and may not have before the raid. Better move.
Well the coppers also had the defamation claim. And the use of their likenesses for profit. CC, JSM
This could be a personal thing, but I'm on the side of the man in the American Flag suit. I don't need to know what this is about.
Also coppers are sick of being doxed. So immediate legal counteroffensive against anything remotely approaching doxxing will help deter the phenomenon.
And the everything will be considered "doxxing." Question: have any "good cops" ever been "doxxed"? Who?
Who gets doxxed? Bad cops. Why? Because they aren't getting fired! To be clear: cops should get fucking fired long before they murder someone. They should get fired for violating a citizen's Constitutional rights. One strike and you are fucking fired. If you "accidentally" kill a citizen or seriously injure them, you are a shitty bad-at-your-job cop and should have literally any other job. But we cannot trust you with a badge and a gun. In what rational workplace are employees allowed to have "oooopsies" where someone is hurt or killed and they keep their jobs? "Whoops! I killed a guy but I was doing my best gimme a break!" 🤷♂️
The Police Union and the thin blue line prevent accountability. So doxx those motherfuckers. That's all the citizens can. Doxx them to until they get a new job. They don't deserve to live in peace.
Start holding cops accountable and you will see zero doxxing.
What is it about Black Americans and cops? Everyone else gets arrested, accepts it, and then goes to trial. Blacks, OTOH, are always fighting with cops, getting into confrontations, blah de blah.
Do they think cops are "The White Man" oppressing them - even when the cops are black? Guess so.
100 cops showed up at the Synagogue attack in Michagan. Amazing, I didn't hear any "cop skeptics" get upset. Funny dat.
DDD: “ In what rational workplace are employees allowed to have "oooopsies" where someone is hurt or killed and they keep their jobs?”
Medicine.
Law.
Political office.
I may think of some more in a bit of time. CC, JSM
Make a rap video where you show courtroom footage of a lawyer doing something you don’t like, and sing lyrics accusing her of all sorts, and see how long before they all descend on you. CC, JSM
We had a thread here about a lady secretly recording her doctor:
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2016/04/patient-secretly-recorded-doctors-as.html
And also:
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2015/12/after-five-minutes-of-talking-to-you-in.html?m=1
CC, JSM
The time when you could see the judges face appeared as though he was trying to hide a smile or not laugh.
He got the joke.
All I knew about Afroman before today was the repeating lyric from the "Because I Got High" song. Having watched that whole video, and the one about Hunter, as well as the Prof's offerings, I look forward to more.
The cops were not doxxed. Their identities were never a secret. They were simply exposed as buffoons and bullies.
Can't quite wrap my head around a privacy expectation of the cops while in Afroman's home.
I guess it says something about blacks, or about Rich white people's opinion of blacks, that the way to get black votes is let black crooks outta jail on no bond. Or defund the police.
John Mosby there is a vast difference between your recording in your own house and the government's recording in a courthouse.
I am very curious who paid for this lawsuit. What a colossal waste of someone's money. An excellent outcome. And that suit and glasses on Afroman! Perfection.
Well the coppers also had the defamation claim. And the use of their likenesses for profit. CC, JSM
Unfortunately for the cops, there really is no such crime/tort as "use of likeness for profit." Some states, mostly where celebrities live/work (California, NY) have right of publicity laws, but they generally have exceptions for things like use in news reports, public interest matters, and First Amendment protections. Many of these exceptions likely apply here.
The funniest, or coolest thing about Lemon Pound Cake (aside from the hilarious lyrics) is that he "appropriates" Beach Boys music for the tune. That was a brilliant move. Rap is too gangster when you don't want to be a gangster. Beach Boys is happy and nice. And he steals it! That's hilarious on multiple levels. "Now he's taking our music."
AI answers: “In Ohio personal injury cases, the "loser pays" rule for attorney fees generally does not apply. Most cases follow the "American Rule," where each party pays its own legal fees.
However, there is a significant exception regarding court costs, and your financial responsibility often depends on your contract with your lawyer.”
Afroman should countersue with “I sued the Sheriff, but I didn’t sue the deputy”.
Oh. I must be in the “older than 2 days” timeline. I was traveling the day of this hilarious post.
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