The brother of George Floyd has decided to fall back on this threat to sue Kanye West for his comments about the deceased Minneapolis man. It seems the lawsuit is on pause because Ye appears to have respected the wishes of the Floyd family.
According to TMZ, Lee Merritt, who is representing Philonise Floyd, said his client is falling back on the artist because he has complied with the request of the cease-and-desist letter they issued after his controversial “Drink Champs” interview.
“I watched the George Floyd documentary that Candace Owens put out… They hit him with the fentanyl. If you look, the guy’s knee wasn’t even on his neck like that,” Yeezy said. “When he said ‘Mama,’ Mama is his girlfriend. They said he screamed for his Mama … Mama was his girlfriend. It is in the documentary.”
He was referring to the documentary “Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM.” The documentary was made by Owens, a controversial conservative commentator, and vocal “Black Lives Matter” critic.
After saying this, Merritt tweeted, “While one cannot defame the dead, the family of #GeorgeFloyd is considering suit for Kanye’s false statements about the manner of his death.”
“Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl, not the brutality established criminally and civilly undermines & diminishes the Floyd family’s fight.”
While one cannot defame the dead, the family of #GeorgeFloyd is considering suit for Kanye’s false statements about the manner of his death.
— Lee Merritt (@MerrittForTexas) October 16, 2022
Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl not the brutality established criminally and civilly undermines & diminishes the Floyd family’s fight.
While Floyd’s brother is falling back, Roxie Washington, the mother of Gianna Floyd, filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against the billionaire entertainer on behalf of her daughter on Tuesday, October 18th.
The Witherspoon Law Group and Dixon & Dixon Attorneys at Law issued a cease-and-desist letter to West on behalf of Floyd’s daughter and her mother, asserting that Ye blatantly misrepresented “the facts regarding the level that the deadly drug played in Floyd’s 2020 death at the hands of a Minnesota police officer, sparking international outrage and protests against police brutality,” Atlanta Black Star reports.
The letter also stated, “[West and his attorneys], employees, agents, partners, associates, and representatives refrain from publishing or causing to be published any other audio, video, statement, post, etc. regarding George Floyd, his estate, his family, and the circumstances surrounding his death, including but not limited to his manner of death.”
The attorneys also addressed the thought that Kanye West has the right to free speech, guaranteed under the constitution.
“Free Speech Rights do not include harassment, lies, misrepresentation, and the misappropriation of George Floyd’s legacy. Some words have consequences and Mr. West will be made to understand that,” said attorney Kay Harper Williams.
According to the complaint, his “false statements about George Floyd’s death to promote his brands, and increase marketing value and revenue for himself, his business partners, and associates,” were made without any care for Gianna, and now the clips are viral.
Attorney Nuru Witherspoon said in a statement, “The interests of the child are priority. George Floyd’s daughter is being traumatized by Kanye West’s comments and he’s creating an unsafe and unhealthy environment for her.”