ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO — On March 18, 2026, a jury in Adams County, Ohio, ruled in favor of rapper Afroman in a defamation lawsuit filed by seven police officers. Seven police officers filed a defamation lawsuit against Afroman after he made music videos mocking a 2022 raid of his home.

In summer 2022, Adams County sheriff's deputies raided Afroman's home with a warrant on suspicion of drug trafficking and kidnapping. Officers found no drugs or signs of kidnapping during the raid, and no charges were filed. Afroman used footage from his 2022 home raid, including security camera footage and videos shot by his wife, in the music videos "Lemon Pound Cake," "Why You Disconnecting My Video Camera," and "Will You Help Me Repair My Door."

Each officer individually sought damages up to $1.5 million in the lawsuit against Afroman. The officers claimed they were subjected to threats, including death threats, and suffered emotional distress, embarrassment, ridicule, loss of reputation, and humiliation. Bob Klinger, an attorney for the officers, said "Mr. Foreman perpetuated lies intentionally, repeatedly, over three and a half years on the Internet about these seven brave deputy sheriffs."

Afroman referred to Officer Shawn Grooms as "the hunchback of Notre Dame" in his music videos. Afroman referred to Officer Brian Newland as a "pedophile" and "child molester" in his music videos. Afroman used innuendo implying Officer Lisa Phillips was a lesbian in his music videos.

Afroman testified "If they hadn't wrongly raided my house, there would be no lawsuit." He also said "They broke into my house, put themselves onto my video cameras, and into my music career." and "With my freedom of speech, I had the right to talk about events going on in my life."

The jury found that Afroman's statements in the music videos were opinions rather than defamatory statements. David Osborne, Afroman's lawyer, argued that the lawsuit against Afroman was a clear-cut First Amendment case. David Osborne said "Look at that suit. Does this look like a man who thinks that everybody's going to assume that everything he's saying is fact?"

The jury sided with Afroman on all claims after deliberating for a few hours. Afroman posted a video to Instagram after the verdict in which he said "We did it America! God bless America, land that I love! Freedom of speech!"