George Floyd’s family is not impressed with Kanye West’s latest comments and ready to sue the rapper.
On Oct. 15, the rapper appeared on the hip-hop podcast Drink Champs, where he seemed to suggest the cause of Floyd’s death was due to fentanyl use and not by Derek Chavin, the former Minneapolis police offer who was convicted of murder.
Now, lawyers for the Floyd family and his daughter Gianna Floyd, 7, say they are planning to sue West for $250 million in damages.
“The interests of the child are priority,” attorney Nuru Witherspoon said in a statement to E! News. “George Floyd’s daughter is being retraumatized by Kanye West’s comments and he’s creating an unsafe and unhealthy environment for her.”
Attorney Kay Harper Williams added, “Free speech rights do not include harassment, lies, misrepresentation and the misappropriate of George Floyd’s legacy. Some words have consequences and Mr. West will be made to understand that.”
According to a cease-and-desist demand obtained by E! News, both Williams and Witherspoon said their clients “are very distressed and hurt by the allegations” made by West. The letter also stated, “You have maliciously made statements that are inaccurate and unfounded, causing damage to Mr. Floyd’s estate and his family.”
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Drink Champs, which is hosted by N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN, has since taken down the podcast episode.
“Integrity is very important and we don’t want to promote false narratives on our platform. Our goal is to celebrate the culture,” a rep for Drink Champs said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Oct. 18. “Therefore, we had no choice but to remove the episode from distribution. We apologize to the family of Mr. Floyd and anyone else hurt by this episode.”
In June 2021, Chauvin was sentenced to more than 22 years after a 12-member jury found him guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
According to prosecutors, Chauvin kneeled on the back of Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds, even as Floyd, who was in handcuffs, said he was struggling to breathe.
During West’s three-hour appearance on the podcast, the fashion designer questioned Floyd’s cause of death and said Chavin’s knee “wasn’t even on his neck like that.”
A medical examiner, who ruled Floyd’s death a homicide, previously testified during the trial that Floyd’s heart disease and drug use contributed to his death, but that police officers’ restraint of his body and compression of his neck were the primary causes.
