Because he got raided.
A patriotically dressed Afroman clashed with Ohio law enforcement Tuesday — leaving one deputy in tears as he took the stand in his bizarre civil trial accusing him of defamation over his 2022 music video “Lemon Pound Cake.”
The 51-year-old “Because I Got High” rapper, whose real name is Joseph Foreman, is being sued by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office over a raid at his home in August 2022 that resulted in no criminal charges.
The iconic artist wrote the song “Lemon Pound Cake” with an accompanying music video of actual footage of the raid taken from his home surveillance, which he hoped would raise money for damages stemming from the fruitless search.
“All of this is their fault,” Foreman, clad in his signature coif, a red, white and blue suit and matching sunglasses, testified Tuesday, according to WCPO.
“If they hadn’t wrongly raided my house, there would be no lawsuit, I would not know their names, they wouldn’t be on my home surveillance system, and there would be no songs … my money would still be intact.”
The song title was inspired by one of the cops in the raid, who had glanced at a lemon pound cake in the kitchen inside Winchester home.
Four deputies, two sergeants and a detective with the sheriff’s office filed the suit alleging that the music video, which has been viewed over 3 million times since December 2022, defamed them, invaded their constitutional privacy and was an intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The agents had been acting on a warrant asserting probable cause for narcotics being stored and kidnappings taking place on the property.
No evidence of criminal activity was found on the property, and no charges were filed.
During the raid, captured on multiple cameras at Foreman’s home, deputies broke down a front gate, busted down a door and caused other damage around the property.
Foreman previously said he created the “funny rap song” to make money and pay for the damages. His defense team is arguing that the rapper is protected by free speech laws.
He continued to create a series of videos leading up to the trial that featured footage of the raid and the names of the law enforcement agents involved.
Lisa Phillips, an Adams County deputy sheriff, was called into work to help execute the warrant despite being off duty that day, she told the court, according to the outlet.
Phillips has been a target of Foreman’s satire as he released several posts, including a 13-minute music video that featured highly suggestive innuendos directed at the official.
Phillips broke out in tears as the video was played in court on Monday.
On Tuesday, another official on the raid, Sgt. Randy Walters, was questioned on the type of harassment from Foreman he had been the subject of since the raid.
During his testimony, Walters was asked if he had been called a “son of a bitch,” with the sergeant saying he was, but nothing that was published online.
On Tuesday night, hours after the trial had adjourned for the day, Foreman shared a video to his social media accounts featuring him singing, “Randy Walter’s a son of a bitch.”
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