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The family of George Floyd is preparing to file a lawsuit against Kanye West for his recent comments refuting the circumstances of Floyd's death.
A statement released by the Witherspoon Law Group and Dixon & Dixon Attorneys at Law announced that Roxie Washington, the mother of Floyd's daughter, who is a minor, is working to file a $250 million lawsuit for "misappropriation, defamation and infliction of emotional distress" against West, who has legally changed his name to Ye.
"Attorneys for family of George Floyd have issued a cease-and-desist letter to Kanye West ('Ye') for his comments about the man whose 2020 death at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked a worldwide outcry against police brutality," the statement said.
As a guest on the Drink Champs podcast on Sunday, Ye discussed the documentary made by conservative pundit Candace Owens titled The Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM, and alleged that Floyd's death was caused by fentanyl and not asphyxiation, which medical experts determined was the cause of death.
"They hit him with the fentanyl. If you look, the guy's knee wasn't even on his neck like that," Ye said on the podcast.
Attorney Nuru Witherspoon said in the release, "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."
"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," said attorney Pat D. Dixon III with Dixon & Dixon Attorneys at Law.
Floyd was a Black man who was killed by police officers in Minneapolis in May 2020. His death caused national outrage after a video circulated online showing officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes as he gasped for breath.
The full interview with Ye, including the comments on Floyd, was removed from the podcast's YouTube channel, but clips of the podcast have continued to circulate online.
Ye has said a number of controversial things in the past two weeks. He was also recently locked out of his Instagram and Twitter accounts for several antisemitic messages, including one on Twitter in which he said he was going "death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE," appearing to reference the U.S. military defense alert state known as DEFCON.
He also caused an uproar after debuting shirts that donned the phrase "White Lives Matter" for Yeezy's show at Paris Fashion Week, and later going on several social media tirades against those who critiqued the shirts.
Newsweek reached out to a representative for Ye for additional comment.
Update 10/18/2022, 3:15 p.m. ET: This article was updated to include additional information.
About the writer
Emma Mayer is a Newsweek Culture Writer based in Wyoming. Her focus is reporting on celebrities, books, movies, and music. ... Read more