HOUSTON – The mother of George Floyd’s daughter has filed a $250 million lawsuit against rapper Kanye West following his recent comments on Floyd’s death.
In a news release from Witherspoon Law Group and Dixon & Dixon Attorneys at Law, Floyd’s family issued a cease-and-desist letter to West, also known as Ye’, for his comments about the 2020 death of the man at the hands of Minneapolis police that sparked a worldwide movement against police brutality.
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In West’s recent appearance on the Drink Champs podcast, West made controversial statements about Floyd’s death, saying he died as a result of fentanyl use.
Hennepin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker said during his testimony that while Floyd’s heart disease and use of fentanyl were contributing factors to his death, they were not the direct cause.
Dr. Vik Bebarta, an emergency physician, toxicologist, and professor at the University of Colorado in Denver, said Floyd died because of how Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee down on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes as he told officers, “I can’t breathe.” He also backed up other experts who have faulted officers for failing to roll Floyd on his side, as they had reportedly been trained, so that he could breathe.
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In a news release that discusses the lawsuit filed by Roxie Washington, the mother of Gianna Floyd, lawyers said West made “false statements about George Floyd’s death to promote his brands, and increase marketing value and revenue for himself, his business partners, and associates.”
The release also says that West stated “malicious falsehoods” about Floyd in order to profit from his death and the family’s trauma.
The full interview has since been removed from the Drink Champs YouTube and Revolt TV, but clips of the comments have continued to circulate on the internet and social media.
“The interests of the child are priority,” Attorney Nuru Witherspoon, partner at The Witherspoon Law Group, said. “George Floyd’s daughter is being traumatized by Kanye West’s comments and he’s creating an unsafe and unhealthy environment for her.”
The rapper was locked out of his Twitter account and restricted on Instagram amid backlash over antisemitic posts.