说唱歌手Afroman诉俄亥俄州警方胜诉 因讽刺警方突袭其住所:”这是为了所有美国人”


更新时间:2026年3月19日 / 美国东部时间上午8:11 / CBS/美联社

获格莱美提名的说唱歌手Afroman赢得了一场诽谤诉讼,起诉他的是七名俄亥俄州治安官副手,他们因Afroman在音乐视频中使用家庭安全录像嘲讽警方对其住所的突袭而起诉他。

“这不仅关乎艺术家,更关乎所有美国人,”这位51岁、本名约瑟夫·福尔曼(Joseph Foreman)的说唱歌手在胜诉后告诉CBS新闻,”我们享有言论自由。他们…因为我谈论这件事而冤枉我并起诉我。”

“这是为了人民,由人民发声,”他说,”所以当人们无法行使言论自由,无法提出问题、解决问题时,问题就永远无法解决。”

此案考验了讽刺作品的界限以及艺术家在针对公众人物的社会评论中可以拥有的创作自由度。这些副手集体要求近400万美元的损害赔偿。

“任何理智的人都不会期望警察不会受到批评。他们以前也被人起过绰号,”辩护律师大卫·奥斯本(David Osborne)在为这位以2000年热门单曲《Because I Got High》(因为我吸了大麻)闻名的说唱歌手和喜剧演员进行结案陈词时表示。

亚当斯县的副手们称,这些病毒式传播的视频在YouTube上的观看量超过300万次,给他们带来了公开骚扰。视频显示,手持步枪的副手破门而入,搜查他的鞋子和西装口袋,还贪婪地盯着厨房桌上的蛋糕,这也催生了一首歌的歌名《Lemon Pound Cake》(柠檬磅蛋糕)。

在其他音乐视频中,Afroman把矛头指向副手们的个人生活,并因突袭中丢失的400美元称他们为”腐败警察”。

“警察不应该偷窃平民的钱财,”说唱歌手本周作证时表示,”这整件事令人愤慨。”

在法庭上——他身着红白蓝三色的美国国旗图案西装——他以第一修正案(言论自由)为依据为自己的作品辩护,并表示他发布这些”diss曲”(讽刺歌曲)是为了弥补突袭造成的损失,包括损坏的大门和前门。

据CBS附属电视台WKRC-TV报道,主持此案的法官乔纳森·海因(Jonathan Hein)宣布:”在所有情况下,陪审团均裁定被告胜诉;原告未获任何判决。”

该电视台报道称,判决宣布后Afroman哭了。

“我们做到了,美国!耶,我们做到了!言论自由!正确!正确!”周三晚间判决后,他在法院外大喊。随后他将这段视频发布到了社交媒体上。

Afroman于2018年12月20日在佛罗里达州好莱坞的Hard Rock Event Center参加Snoop Dogg的Puff Puff Pass巡演时登台表演。Johnny Louis/Getty Images

2022年的突袭行动未提出任何指控,搜查令称这是毒品和绑架调查的一部分。在证词中,他说他有权告诉朋友和粉丝警察的所作所为。他表示,这次突袭让当时10岁和12岁的孩子受到了创伤。

Afroman在搜查时不在家,但他的妻子在场,并在手机上记录了搜查的部分过程。

Afroman在社交媒体上发布的视频显示,警察破门而入时手持武器。

“整个突袭行动都是个错误。这一切都是他们的错。如果他们没有错误地突袭我的房子,就不会有这场诉讼。我也不会知道他们的名字,”福尔曼说,”他们不会出现在我的家庭监控系统中,也就不会有这些歌,什么都不会有。”

《Will You Help Me Repair My Door?》(你愿意帮我修门吗?)的歌词直接向警方发问:”你们找到想要的东西了吗/要不要来块柠檬磅蛋糕/你们想拿多少就拿多少/肯定是出了大错。”

视频放慢了速度,显示一名警官持枪站在Afroman厨房的蛋糕架旁。

然后他说唱道:”搜查令上说,’毒品和绑架’/你在开玩笑吗?我靠说唱赚钱,”以及”你们这些腐败警察需要停止这种行为/我的西装口袋里没有绑架受害者”,同时视频显示警官们在搜查他的壁橱。

副手们在证词中说,这些歌曲是在嘲笑他们。副警长丽莎·菲利普斯(Lisa Phillips)说,说唱歌手制作了一个”贬低性”的音乐视频,质疑她的性别和性取向。

中士兰迪·沃尔特斯(Randy Walters)说,他的孩子因为Afroman的帖子在学校被欺负,哭着回家。

“在这个世界上,哪里可以允许为了好玩而编造对他人有害的谎言,而你明明知道这绝对是谎言?”他问道。

Afroman的律师在结案陈词中表示,从事社会评论的艺术家进行夸张创作并不罕见。代表副手们的罗伯特·克林格勒(Robert Klingler)则称,Afroman在过去三年中一直对”这七名勇敢的副警长”撒谎。

“即使有人对你做了伤害你的事情,你认为这是错误的——比如你认为不公平的搜查令执行——这也不能成为编造旨在伤害他人的故意谎言的理由,”他辩称。

Afroman住在温彻斯特,距离辛辛那提约50英里。

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Rapper Afroman wins lawsuit against Ohio police over mocking their raid of his home: “It’s for Americans”

Updated on: March 19, 2026 / 8:11 AM EDT / CBS/AP

The 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.

“It’s not only for artists. It’s for Americans,” the 51-year-old rapper, born Joseph Foreman, told CBS News after winning the case. “We have freedom of speech. They … did me wrong and sued me because I was talking about it.”

“It’s for the people, by the people,” he said. “So when the people can’t use their freedom of speech, bring up the problem, address the problem, take care of the problem, then the problem never gets solved.”

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 $4 million in damages.

“No reasonable person would expect a police officer not to be criticized. They’ve been called names before,” defense lawyer David Osborne said in closing arguments for the rapper and comedian, known for his breakout 2000 hit, “Because I Got High.”

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 $400 that went missing in the raid.

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“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 American flag suit — he defended his work on First Amendment grounds and said he issued the diss tracks to cover damages from the raid, including a broken gate and front door.

“In all circumstances, the jury finds in favor of the defendant; no plaintiff verdict prevailed,” said Judge Jonathan Hein, who presided over the case, CBS affiliate WKRC-TV reported.

Afroman cried after the verdict was announced, the station reported.

“We did it, America! Yeah, we did it! Freedom of speech! Right on! Right on!” he shouted outside the courthouse after the Wednesday evening verdict. He later posted the clip to social media.

Afroman performs on stage at the Snoop Dogg Puff Puff Pass Tour at Hard Rock Event Center in Hollywood, Florida, on Dec. 20, 2018. Johnny Louis/Getty Images

No charges were filed over the 2022 raid, which the warrant said was part of a drug and kidnapping investigation. In his testimony, he said he had the right to tell his friends and fans what police had done. He said the raid traumatized his children, then 10 and 12.

Afroman was not at his home during the search, but his wife was present and recorded parts of the search on her phone.

Videos posted by Afroman on social media showed police breaking down his door as they entered the home wielding weapons.

“The whole raid was a mistake. All of this is their fault. If they hadn’t have wrongly raided my house, there would be no lawsuit. I would not know their names,” Foreman said. “They wouldn’t be on my home surveillance system, and there would be no songs, nothing.”

The lyrics of “Will You Help Me Repair My Door?” address the police directly: “Did you find what you were looking for/ Would you like a slice of lemon pound cake/ You can take as much as you want to take/ There must be a big mistake.”

The video slows down, showing an officer holding a gun next to a cake stand in Afroman’s kitchen.

Then he raps: “The warrant said, ‘Narcotics and kidnapping’/ Are you kidding? I make my money rapping,” and “You crooked cops need to stop it/ There are no kidnapping victims in my suit pockets,” as a video shows the officers searching his closet.

The deputies, in their testimony, said the songs ridiculed them. Deputy Lisa Phillips said the rapper created a “derogatory” music video that questioned her gender and sexuality.

Sgt. Randy Walters said his child had been hazed at school over Afroman’s posts and came home crying.

“Where in the world is it OK to make something up for fun that’s damaging to others when you know for sure it’s an absolute lie?” he asked.

Afroman’s lawyer, in closing arguments, said it was not unusual for artists engaged in social commentary to exaggerate. Robert Klingler, representing the deputies, said Afroman lied about “these seven brave deputy sheriffs” for the past three years.

“Even if somebody does something to you that hurts you, that you think is wrong — like a search warrant execution that you think is unfair … that doesn’t justify telling intentional lies designed to hurt people,” he argued.

Afroman lives in Winchester, about 50 miles outside of Cincinnati.

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