At first glance, the details appear to include elements for a potential civil lawsuit. Home surveillance footage during a police raid shows Adams County deputies and other law enforcement agents breaching a door hard enough to rip it off its hinges and allegedly not returning all of the seized money after no charges were filed. That might be enough for filing a complaint against the police, right?
Well, that intro is a bit misleading. While a civil lawsuit was indeed filed as a result of the raid, the plaintiffs were the seven officers who conducted it. Much like the search warrant executed against rapper Afroman, their defamation lawsuit came up empty on March 18, 2026.
Despite not having the Foreman deliberating with them, an Ohio jury only needed a little over an hour to determine that Joseph Foreman, aka Afroman, was not liable for almost $3 million in damages. Four sheriff’s deputies, two sergeants, and a detective with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office filed suit against Foreman in 2023, seeking relief for injuries that included emotional distress and loss of reputation after Foreman posted a trio of music videos on social media that featured him rapping over the footage of their raid. Instead, the jury found that Foreman’s First Amendment freedom of speech rights outweighed the ridicule they suffered while trending on TikTok.
“Congratulations Again, You’re Famous for All the Wrong Reasons”
Performing as rapper Afroman, Foreman is best known for “Because I Got High,” a song that earned him a 2002 Grammy nomination. He released a remix of the song in 2014 to highlight the usefulness of cannabis and promote a bid for its legalization. Foreman continues to publish his music online independently.
On August 21, 2022, members of the Adams County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant for kidnapping and drug trafficking charges at Foreman’s residence. Foreman was in Chicago at the time, but his wife and children were present as the police knocked a door off its hinges to gain entry. The breach, along with the ensuing search, was captured on the home’s security cameras and his wife’s phone. The raid netted neither drugs nor victims of kidnapping, and Foreman was not charged in any manner. The police seized approximately $5,000 in cash, which would later be returned to Foreman (not without controversy).
Upset about the raid and the roughly $20,000 in damages he says the officers caused, Foreman took matters into his own hands. Using footage from the raid, Foreman recorded three songs and released three videos on social media at the end of 2022. “Will You Help Me Repair My Door?”, which showed officers milling on his property and searching his house with automatic weapons in hand, included lyrics like “The warrant said/‘Narcotics and kidnapping’/Are you kidding?/I make my money rapping.” It received over nine million views online.
“Lemon Pound Cake,” which borrows musically from the Drifters’ “Under the Boardwalk,” focuses on footage of an officer being distracted by the titular treat during the raid. “Why You Disconnecting My Video Camera” taunted the officers by asking, “Any pounds of weeds in my custom suits?/Any kidnapping victims in my tailored boots?” In addition to naming and mocking those involved in social media posts, Foreman created and sold merchandise based on the raid, including shirts with their faces. Foreman also claimed that $400 of the money seized from him wasn’t returned. The Adams County Sheriff’s Department later determined that the money had been miscounted.
Lemon Im-Pound Cake
Foreman’s retaliatory methods led seven officers to file a civil lawsuit against him on March 14, 2023. The complaint accused Foreman of defamation, portraying the officers in a false light, and unfairly profiting from their likenesses. They alleged that they’d suffered ridicule, humiliation, mental distress, loss of reputation, and death threats as a result.
A judge partially granted Foreman’s motion later that year, dismissing the “unauthorized use of individual persona” and “right of publicity” claims. During the defamation trial, Officer Lisa Phillips, who was seeking the largest award of $1.5 million, openly wept as one of the official music videos mocking her was played. Randy Walters, another officer, argued that his family was suffering harassment and being harmed by Foreman’s “lies.”
Foreman, who repeatedly stated that he had done nothing more than exercise his free speech as an artist, countered that the plaintiffs were trying to “make him pay for their mistake.” An amicus brief from the ACLU called the lawsuit a functional SLAPP lawsuit. Given the speed with which the jury rendered their verdict, it seems they thought so as well.
Related Resources
- Fault Required for Defamation (FindLaw’s Torts and Personal Injury Law)
- Jobs the Marijuana Industry Is Creating (FindLaw’s Cannabis Law)
- Can You Sue a Cop for an Illegal Search (FindLaw’s Law and Daily Life)
