US rapper Afroman celebrates after court protects his right to mock police

2026.03.19 12:20 Afroman, whose real name is Joseph Foreman, attends the 2019 Daytime Beauty Awards in Los Angeles. Photo: Getty Images/TNS) Grammy-nominated rapper Afroman won a defamation lawsuit filed by seven Ohio sheriff’s deputies who sued him over music videos in which he used home security footage to mock their raid of his home. “We did it, America! Yeah, we did it! Freedom of speech! Right on! Right on!” the 51-year-old rapper, born Joseph Foreman, shouted outside the courthouse after the Wednesday evening verdict. He later posted the clip to social media. The case tested the limits of parody and the license artists can take in social commentary directed at public figures. The deputies, collectively, sought nearly US$4 million in damages. “No reasonable person would expect a police officer not to be criticised. They’ve been called names before,” defence lawyer David Osborne said in closing arguments for the rapper and comedian, known for his breakout 2000 hit “Because I Got High”. A screengrab from CCTV footage shows deputies raiding Joseph Foreman’s home in 2022. Photo: Afroman The Adams County deputies said they were publicly harassed over the viral videos, which were viewed more than 3 million times on YouTube. The videos show rifle-wielding deputies busting down Afroman’s door, searching his shoes and suit pockets, and hungrily eyeing a cake on the kitchen table, inspiring one song’s title, “Lemon Pound Cake”. In other music videos, Afroman took aim at the deputies’ personal lives and called them “crooked cops” because of US$400 that went missing in the raid. “Police officers shouldn’t be stealing civilians’ money,” the rapper testified this week. “This whole thing is an outrage.” In court – wearing a red, white and blue US flag suit – he defended his work on First Amendment grounds and said he issued the tracks to cover damages from the raid, including a broken gate and front door. No charges were filed over the 2022 raid, which the warrant said was pa

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