Kanye West’s decision to publicly suggest George Floyd died from a drug overdose could end up costing the rap star a lot of money. Apparently, Floyd’s family is looking at filing a lawsuit against West as well as right-wing commentator Candace Owens.
While appearing on Revolt’s Drink Champs podcast, Kanye West falsely opined that fentanyl caused George Floyd to die. West also claimed former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin “wasn’t even on his neck like that.”
Footage of the fatal incident went viral in 2020. Chauvin could clearly be seen kneeling on a prone George Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes. The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office ruled Floyd died by homicide caused by “restraint and neck compression.”
Kanye West told Drink Champs the misleading information about George Floyd’s death came from a documentary created by Candace Owens. According to TMZ, Owens is now in jeopardy of being a defendant in a possible civil case.
Attorney Kay Williams told the website that Candace Owens’s film contains blatant lies. The Floyd family’s legal team will likely file a lawsuit claiming intentional infliction of emotional distress and misappropriation. Drink Champs and the Revolt network could get caught up in the potential legal fight too.
Candace Owens Doubles Down On Her Talking Points About George Floyd
It appears Candace Owens is not backing down on her viewpoint. The conservative talking head insists her documentary is truthful. She tweeted, “What I love so much about George Floyd family’s lawyers is how they keep talking to TMZ about ‘lies’ in my documentary but keep neglecting to specify what the lies were!”
While a deceased person cannot be defamed, it should be noted several high-profile defamation cases have made headlines over the last three years. “WAP” rapper Cardi B came out the victor in a $4 million defamation case against blogger Tasha K.
In addition, Pirates of the Caribbean actor Johnny Depp won a defamation suit against his former wife Amber Heard. The Sandy Hook families also won a nearly $1 billion defamation case against right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Drink Champs host N.O.R.E. has offered several public apologies to George Floyd’s surviving family members. Kanye West gave a more general apology while appearing on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
“I feel like I caused hurt and confusion and I’m sorry for the families that had nothing to do with the trauma that I had been through. Hurt people hurt people – and I was hurt,” said West.
