Seven deputies showed up at Afroman's house in West Union, Ohio with guns drawn, looking for a drug trafficking operation and a kidnapping dungeon. The house didn't have a basement. They found no drugs, no dungeon, no evidence of anything. They did find a lemon pound cake on the kitchen counter. Deputy Shawn Cooley stopped to admire it. The security cameras caught everything.
Who's Who?
-
Joseph Edgar Foreman — Deputies raided his house looking for a dungeon. He made an album instead. -
SDShawn D. Cooley — Stopped to admire a lemon pound cake on camera. Cops everywhere started sending him pastries.
-
LPLisa Phillips — Cried on the stand over an Afroman song that questioned her gender and sexuality.
-
BNBrian Newland — Said Afroman cost him his dream job, then had to explain the missing $400.
-
RLRandolph L. Walters Jr. — Sued over lyrics alleging his wife had a relationship with the rapper.
-
DSDavid S. Osborne Jr. — Cited N.W.A.'s 'F--k tha Police' to defend Afroman's First Amendment rights.
-
RGRhonda Grooms — Told the jury her students know Cardi B's 'WAP' and nobody takes explicit lyrics literally.
-
RARobert A. Klingler — Represented seven deputies seeking $3.9 million. The jury gave them zero.
The raid happened on August 21, 2022, while Joseph Edgar Foreman — Afroman, born in East Palmdale, California, Grammy-nominated for 'Because I Got High' — was in Chicago performing. His wife and two children, ages 10 and 12, were home. The warrant came from a confidential informant who had a prior meth conviction, had been caught with over 2,100 grams of illegal marijuana, and had carried on a near-decade sexual relationship with Foreman. Nobody filed charges. The deputies confiscated $5,031 in cash. When they returned it three months later, $400 was missing. An outside investigation by Clermont County called it a miscount.
Most people would have hired a lawyer. Afroman made an album. He pulled the security camera footage, laid it over beats, and released a 14-track record that included 'Lemon Pound Cake' — named for that moment with Deputy Cooley — and 'Will You Help Me Repair My Door,' which racked up more than 11 million views on YouTube. He put the deputies' faces on merchandise. He turned a botched raid into a career second act.
The deputies didn't appreciate the attention. In March 2023, all seven of them — Cooley, Lisa Phillips, Brian Newland, Sgt. Randolph Walters Jr., and three others — filed a $3.9 million lawsuit against Foreman. Thirteen counts: defamation, invasion of privacy, false light, intentional infliction of emotional distress. Phillips, who cried on the stand about an explicit song questioning her gender and sexuality, sought $1.5 million on her own. Newland testified he'd been forced to quit his 'dream job' with the sheriff's office. Cooley, now retired, told the court he'd received hundreds of pound cakes from cops in other jurisdictions who recognized him from the videos.
The ACLU filed an amicus brief calling the whole thing a SLAPP suit — a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation — designed to silence criticism of public officials. Afroman's attorney, David Osborne Jr., argued the lyrics were artistic exaggeration protected by the First Amendment. He cited N.W.A.'s 'F--k tha Police' as part of accepted American musical self-expression. The deputies' attorney, Robert Klingler, represented all seven plaintiffs. The defense called exactly one witness: Rhonda Grooms, a teacher and Cooley's ex-wife, who testified that she and her students were familiar with Cardi B's 'WAP' and that nobody takes explicit lyrics literally.
The trial lasted three days in Adams County Court of Common Pleas, before Judge Jonathan P. Hein. On March 18, 2026, the jury deliberated six hours and came back with a complete defense verdict. Zero liability. All 13 counts. The deputies got nothing.
Afroman walked out of the courthouse in an American flag suit and a white fur coat. 'I didn't win, America won,' he said. 'America still has freedom of speech. It's still for the people, by the people.' During his testimony, he'd put it more plainly: 'The whole raid was a mistake. All of this is their fault. If they hadn't wrongly raided my house, there would be no lawsuit.'
He has a new album called 'Freedom of Speech' scheduled for April 20, 2026 — fifteen tracks, with songs that continue to name the deputies directly. The deputies, who went looking for a dungeon in a house without a basement, are left with a pound cake meme and a unanimous jury verdict that says making fun of them is constitutionally protected speech.