Afroman Sues Deputy Tied to 2022 Raid for Malicious Prosecution
Afroman sued one of the Ohio sheriff’s deputies who brought a defamation case against him that revolved around lewd social media posts and videos, some of which used footage of a raid on the rapper’s property to mock them.
The outlandish rapper, whose real name is Joseph Foreman, said then-Adams County Sheriff’s Sgt. Brian Newland’s filing of a “frivolous” lawsuit wrongly caused him to incur attorney fees and suffer emotional distress, according to the malicious prosecution case filed Monday in Adams County Common Pleas Court.
“The claims asserted by Defendant against Plaintiff in the prior lawsuit were not warranted under existing law and could not be supported by a good argument for the extension, modification, or reversal or existing law,” Afroman’s lawsuit said, adding that the allegations weren’t backed up by evidence.
The new lawsuit was filed about four months after a jury presiding over the first one brought by Newland and other deputies found in favor of Afroman, saying the rapper — best known for his early 2000s hit “Because I Got High” — didn’t defame them or portray them in a false light. The deputies sought a combined $3.9 million.
The deputies, who first filed their claims in state court in 2023, said Afroman targeted them through offensive online posts and videos that harmed their reputations and wellbeing by making lewd allegations, all resulting from a 2022 raid on the rapper’s house related to an investigation that didn’t lead to charges.
Afroman initially used security camera footage of the raid on his home to make viral music videos of songs called “Lemon Pound Cake” and “Will You Help Me Repair My Door.” The posts have continued since the raid, and Afroman’s attorney argued at trial that reasonable people wouldn’t consider his speech about the plaintiffs as fact.
The rapper has capitalized on the trial’s notoriety with a subsequent concert tour. He publicized the new lawsuit in a lewd post on his Instagram account Tuesday, saying he was “suing the police officer who stole my $400, then had the audacity to sue me” for $1.5 million. He also posted a new music video about Newland on his YouTube page.
An attorney who represented Newland in the first trial didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Afroman is represented by David S. Osborne Jr. of West Union, Ohio.
The case is Foreman v. Newland, Ohio Ct. Com. Pl., No. CVH20260287, complaint filed 7/27/26.