Kanye West has been slammed in recent weeks of racist, anti-semitic and just down right problematic comments. Last Saturday on the Drink Champs podcast the rapper alleged that George Floyd, a man who was killed in a violent arrest in 2020, died of a fentanyl overdose and not at the hands of a police officer.
The mother of George Floyd’s daughter, Roxie Washington, has now launched a $250 million lawsuit against the public figure. In a statement released by a legal representative, the family have sent West a cease-and-desist and will sue him for “harassment, misappropriation, defamation and infliction of emotional distress”.
Fentanyl was found in Floyd’s system following his death however Hennepin county chief medical examiner Dr Andrew Baker testified in a previous court case that his immediate cause of death was “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement’s subdual, restraint and neck compression”.
In the US deceased people cannot be defamed, however the lawsuit reportedly protects Floyd’s daughter. According to the SBS she is the sole beneficiary of his estate.
“Mr Floyd’s cause of death is well-settled through evidence presented in courts of law during the criminal and civil trials that were the result of his untimely and horrific death. Nevertheless you have maliciously made statements that are inaccurate and unfounded, causing damage to Mr Floyd’s estate and his family,” the statement, via The Guardian, reads.
In April 2021 Derek Chauvin, the police officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, was found guilty on three murder and manslaughter charges. He is now serving two prison sentences for more than 22 years. Three officers also involved in the arrest are serving shorter sentences on different charges.
Stay tuned for further developments.
