George Floyd’s family is planning to sue Kanye West along with his associates over his claims on the Drink Champs show about the former’s death. The lawsuit is being filed by Roxie Washington, the mother to Floyd’s daughter, on behalf of the latter, who is a minor.
Misappropriation, defamation, infliction of emotional distress, and harassment are the charges that the family is considering filing against him. On the show, West had claimed that Floyd had died of fentanyl and that former police officer Derek Chauvin was not responsible for his death. He has already been issued a cease-and-desist letter by Floyd’s family.
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On the show, West said, “If you look, the guy’s knee wasn’t even on his neck like that”. It is not yet clear whether by “associates” the family also means to sue Candace Owens, from whose documentary, The Greatest Lie Ever Sold, West had taken the idea of Floyd dying from fentanyl.
The statement in which the plan to sue West was announced, said that the rapper had made “blatantly false statements” about Floyd’s death in order to “promote his brand and increase marketing value and revenue for himself, his business partners, and associates.”
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“George Floyd’s daughter is being retraumatized by Kanye West’s comments and he’s creating an unsafe and unhealthy environment for her”, said the Witherspoon Law Group’s Nuru Witherspoon.
“Kanye’s comments are repugnant to discount George Floyd’s life and to profit from his inhumane death. We will hold Mr. West accountable for his flagrant remarks against Mr. Floyd’s legacy”, said Dixon & Dixon’s Pat D. Dixon, III.
Besides his comments on Floyd’s death, West had also made some antisemitic remarks on the show, which was later pulled from YouTube as well as other podcasting platforms.
Floyd had earlier said that he had established a fund for Floyd’s daughter’s college education. His comments come right after the rapper found himself on the receiving end of backlash from several celebrities over his “White Lives Matter” shirts at the Paris fashion week.