Rallies Held Across America On Anniversary Of George Floyd's Death ATLANTA, GA - MAY 25: A mural of George Floyd painted downtown to memorialize the life of George Floyd is shown on the anniversary of his death on May 25, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin sparked protests and movements around the world. (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images) Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles - October 14, 2022 LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 14: Kanye West is seen on October 14, 2022 in Los Angeles, California (Photo by MEGA/GC Images)
The mother of George Floyd’s daughter, Roxie Washington, announced she retained lawyers to file a lawsuit against Ye. The suit follows false comments he made about Floyd’s death on the podcast Drink Champs.
Washington said she filed the case on behalf of her child, who is the sole beneficiary of her father’s estate. The family seeks $250 million in damages for “harassment, misappropriation, defamation, and infliction of emotional distress.”
“The interests of the child are priority. George Floyd’s daughter is being retraumatized by Kanye West’s comments and he’s creating an unsafe and unhealthy environment for her,” said Roxie’s attorney Nuru
Witherspoon.
Washinton’s attorneys also issued Ye a cease-and-desist. As stated, Ye recently dismissed the already proven cause of Floyd’s death–Derek Chauvin kneeling on George’s neck for over eight minutes.
A jury convicted Chauvin of murder and manslaughter in 2021–ultimately, a judge sentenced the former police officer to 22.5 years for his crimes. This year the court also sentenced Chauvin to another twenty-plus years for violating Floyd’s civil rights. Derek will serve those sentences concurrently.
Despite these public court outcomes, the rapper suggested fentanyl use caused George’s passing.
“They hit [George] with the fentanyl,” Ye said on Drink Champs. “If you look, the guy’s knee wasn’t even on his neck like that. When he said mama, mama is his girlfriend. They said he screamed for his mama, mama was his girlfriend.”
Ye’s comments about Floyd and his anti-Semitic rhetoric brought a wave of backlash to Drink Champs over the weekend. In response, N.O.R.E has been on an apology tour this week. During a conversation with The Breakfast Club’s Charlamagne Tha God and Angela Yee, the award-winning host apologized to Floyd’s family for what Ye said.
“I did not realize that the George Floyd statements on my show were so hurtful. And you gotta realize it was the first five minutes of the show. When [Ye] walked in, he told my producer that if he stops filming, he’ll walk out. So I didn’t want a Birdman moment,” N.O.R.E. said. He added, “I wanted the man to speak. Later on, I actually checked him about the George Floyd comments. I actually checked him about the White Lives Matter, but it was so later in the show. I was already inebriated at that time that maybe people looked over it. But I apologize to George Floyd’s family. I apologize to anybody that was hurt by Kanye West comments. Although I do support free speech, I am Black Black.”
Later in the conversation, N.O.R.E. revealed he was disgusted and embarrassed watching the footage. The Drink Champs interview has since been removed from YouTube and Revolt TV, but clips are still floating online.
George’s family believes Ye intentionally spewed false comments about the murder for personal gain. According to the release, the suit claims, “Kanye West knowingly made blatantly false statements about George Floyd’s death to promote his brands and increase marketing value and revenue for himself, his business partners, and associates.”
In addition to Witherspoon Law Group, Washington also retained the help of Dixon & Dixon Attorneys at Law to take Ye to court. Attorney Pat D. Dixon also spoke on the suit’s intention.
“Kanye’s comments are a repugnant attempt 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,” Dixon said.
Read the complete statement below. Ye nor his team have responded to the lawsuit.
