In the words of the artist formerly known as P. Diddy, it’s all fucked up now.
At least it is for Kanye West, the artist currently known as ‘Ye, is on the verge of facing a $250 million lawsuit from the mother of the late George Floyd’s daughter, according to a letter from the law firm representing the woman. The lawsuit would make good on a threat first reported yesterday that members of Floyd’s family could go after the rapper and fashion designer in court over his remarks about Floyd’s death on a controversial episode of fellow rapper N.O.R.E and DJ EFN’s Drink Champs podcast. ‘Ye said in the episode that Floyd, who was killed last year in Minneapolis by former cop Derek Chauvin, actually died because of an addiction to the painkiller Fentanyl.
Floyd actually died of cardiac arrest as a result of Chauvin kneeling on his back neck while he was handcuffed in the street; Chauvin and three other officers on the scene have all been convicted in state or federal court in connection with his death.
“As you can expect, our clients are very distressed and hurt by the allegations you made. 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,” reads a cease and desist letter sent to West’s attorney from the Witherspoon Law Group, which is representing Floyd’s minor daughter and her mother. The letter was published by TMZ.
“Nevertheless, you and maliciously made statements that are inaccurate and unfounded, causing damage to Mr. Floyd’s estate and his family.
The Floyd family’s legal action follows a similar case that was filed by the relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook school massacre in 2012 in Connecticut. In that case, relatives of the deceased sued conservative conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who for years promoted the false theory that Sandy Hook never happened on his Info Wars program. Jones was held liable for defamation last week and ordered to pay the plaintiffs nearly $1 billion.