Afroman, whose real name is Joseph Foreman, won a defamation lawsuit brought by seven Ohio sheriff’s deputies over viral music videos that mocked a 2022 raid of his home, using home security footage from the incident, according to court reporting. The verdict was delivered Wednesday evening, and the rapper later shared a clip of the moment on social media.
Outside the courthouse after the decision, Foreman shouted, “We did it, America! Yeah, we did it! Freedom of speech! Right on! Right on!” The reporting said he is 51 years old and that he later posted the clip to social media. His case tested the boundary between parody and protected commentary directed at public figures, with the deputies asking for nearly $4 million in damages.
The deputies said the videos—viewed more than 3 million times on YouTube—subjected them to public harassment. The videos showed rifle-wielding deputies busting down Afroman’s door, searching his shoes and suit pockets, and focusing on a cake on the kitchen table, which appeared in the title of one song, “Lemon Pound Cake.” In other videos, Foreman used the incident footage to target the deputies’ personal lives, including calling them “crooked cops” based on missing $400 from the raid.
Foreman defended his work on First Amendment grounds during testimony and described the diss tracks as a way to address damage from the raid, including a broken gate and front door. He testified that no charges were filed in connection with the 2022 raid and said the warrant described the raid as part of a drug and kidnapping investigation. He also told the court that the raid traumatized his children, who were 10 and 12 at the time, and he described telling friends and fans about what police did as part of his rights.
In testimony, Foreman said, “Police officers shouldn’t be stealing civilians’ money,” calling the situation an “outrage.” He also used lyrics from “Will You Help Me Repair My Door?” to describe the raid directly, with the reporting quoting lines that reference the warrant’s wording about “Narcotics and kidnapping,” and portraying the “crooked cops” as being criticized through the song’s narrative. One video slowed down to show an officer holding a gun next to a cake stand in Foreman’s kitchen before continuing with lyrics that addressed the officers’ search of his belongings.
The deputies testified that the songs ridiculed them. Deputy Lisa Phillips said the rapper created a “derogatory” music video that questioned her gender and sexuality, according to reporting. Sgt. Randy Walters said his child had been hazed at school because of Foreman’s posts and that the child came home crying, according to the account.
In closing arguments, Foreman’s lawyer, David Osborne, argued that criticism of police should not be surprising. Osborne said, “No reasonable person would expect a police officer not to be criticized. They’ve been called names before,” according to the reporting. Afroman’s lawyer also told the court that artists engaged in social commentary sometimes exaggerate as part of that work.
The deputies’ lawyer, Robert Klingler, said that Afroman lied about the seven deputies and argued that intentional falsehoods were not justified by the harm Foreman said he suffered from the raid. Klingler argued that even if someone is hurt by a search warrant execution they believe was unfair, it does not justify “telling intentional lies designed to hurt people,” according to the reporting.
Foreman lives in Winchester, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) outside Cincinnati. The outcome, in the deputies’ lawsuit over their alleged reputational harm, leaves the case as a test of how parody and the use of personal or surveillance footage fit within defamation law and First Amendment protections.