Afroman Wins Civil Trial over Use of Police Raid Footage in His Music Videos

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/us/afroman-trial-lemon-cake-verdict.html

189•pseudolus•2h ago

Comments

pseudolus•2h ago

josefritzishere•2h ago

This is the single funniest thing to happen in at least a decade.

Reubachi•2h ago

"Mr. Foreman was not at home during the 2002 police raid, but a security camera system and his wife, using her cellphone, recorded the “faces and bodies” of the officers while they were on the property, according to the lawsuit"

"2002" New York Times, everyone.

Props to afroman for his perfect demeanor/attitude during all this.

esprehn•1h ago

2022. I'm not sure phones recorded useful video in 2002.

refulgentis•1h ago

Right. It’s a little hard to parse but they’re saying “The NYT has a typo”

netsharc•12m ago

And what he's implying. "The NYT has a typo, it's all garbage!"

josefritzishere•1h ago

throwa356262•1h ago

Serious question: how come the police have not paid for the damage they caused?

caymanjim•1h ago

Qualified immunity.

iririririr•54m ago

which is double genius on afroman, because they forfeited qualified immunity to start this trial. now he can even sue further damages.

distrack as legal maneuver.

giraffe_lady•17m ago

He is a seasoned professional at this. He was respected in the diss track game in his day, he definitely understands the boundaries of defamation. And what has long been known in rap in newspapers: even if you're right it's not worth it to be on the stand defending defamation. "It's average size your honor."

jhancock•48m ago

I'm going to keep this one... underqualified immunity :)

Drakim•1h ago

If the damaged party tries to sue the police for the damage they caused, the police can get the case instantly dismissed underqualified immunity.

lightedman•58m ago

Stealing things out of a person's fridge and eating it is not covered under qualified immunity.

RIMR•48m ago

Making up details of the incident doesn't help either. They didn't eat anything, a cop just did a double-take at the lemon pound cake, and Afroman wrote a song about how they wanted to eat it.

dec0dedab0de•46m ago

Qualified immunity just protects the police, and other government officials personally. If there is grounds for a lawsuit then he could still sue the government that employs the police department.

I think in general, if it is a legit warrant, it is very difficult to win a lawsuit for damage. Though with that video, and how high profile this has been, he might be able to win something. though IANAL, and I'm just going off my gut.

voxic11•41m ago

The government has sovereign immunity which is why you usually have to sue the people involved rather than the government directly.

ngetchell•11m ago

The government is sued all the time.

wl•44m ago

They chose not to do so. And the courts are no help, because generally speaking, you can't sue the government unless there's a specific law allowing you to do so (sovereign immunity). The police as individuals are generally immune from civil suits unless they violated some clearly established right (qualified immunity).

Refreeze5224•2m ago

Serious answer: cops are not accountable for their behavior, in the vast majority of cases.

ChrisArchitect•47m ago

[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47436950

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Comments

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Afroman found not liable in defamation case

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Afroman Wins Civil Trial over Use of Police Raid Footage in His Music Videos

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