JustZ , 9 months ago

I can see how there would be fact issues in these three claims.

I can’t see how the police think they will prove their case to a jury.

The unreasonable publicity claim the jury will be asked whether the police had an expectation of privacy. Obviously they could not, since they were inside someone else’s house and therefore could not have any idea whether there was hidden video or audio recording systems.

Truth is a defense to both defamation and false light. Is afroman’s portrayal of these officers substantially true? It sure looks pretty true, given that it uses footage of the officers own actions.

Also, the context matters. Afroman isn’t the New York Times. He didn’t present this information as true news, allegations meant to be taken literally and seriously. While they are serious allegations, Afroman is a comedic rapper. A reasonable observer would know that some of what Afroman raps about will be exaggerated or have fictional details added in order to make a more compelling song or even just to make a bar rhyme.

These are thin skinned cops that can’t handle being ridiculed by a black boy, and who want to send a message to others not to rap about cops and their embarrassing failures. That seems very obvious to me. The entire case should have been tossed under anti SLAPP laws because this is the literal definition of a SLAPP suit.