(AllHipHop News) Frank Ocean warned to stick to facts in legal battle against dad
Frank Ocean has been warned by a judge to stick to the facts while defending a defamation case brought by his father.
Ocean responded to the lawsuit in May, stating that he stood by the claims made in his essay and outlined 17 “affirmative defenses” explaining why he believed Judge Stephen V. Wilson should dismiss his father’s case.
Legal documents obtained by Pitchfork Media show that although the judge upheld 16 of Ocean’s lines of defense, he warned that he found many of the hip-hop star’s “affirmative defenses seem to have been put forward without any factual basis”.
The judge went on to warn Ocean and his lawyers that they faced sanctions, “if it becomes clear the Defendant (Ocean) is persisting with arguments with no factual support in order to confuse the Plaintiff (Cooksey) or hide the truth of the matter.”
Calling the case a “fairly straightforward” one, the judge also urged both parties against pursuing “intensive litigation tactics.”
In his original essay, published on the Tumblr website, Ocean wrote, “I was six years old when I heard my dad call our transgender waitress a f##got as he dragged me out a neighborhood diner saying we wouldn’t be served because she was dirty.”
Cooksey denies his son’s allegation and claims his son made false accusations to promote his album Blonde and “ruin his father”.
He also alleges the Pyramids singer’s claims he made bigoted statements damaged his chances of finding work in the entertainment industry.
Ocean’s father previously sued rap mogul and entrepreneur Russell Simmons in 2014 for claiming he was a deadbeat dad.