The family of George Floyd is considering a defamation lawsuit against Kanye West over comments he made on the Drink Champs podcast.
“While one cannot defame the dead, the family of #GeorgeFloyd is considering suit for Kanye’s false statements about the manner of his death,” Lee Merritt, a lawyer for Floyd’s family, said in a statement posted to social media on Sunday.
During the podcast, West asserted the false claim that Floyd died from fentanyl. “I watched the George Floyd documentary that Candace Owens put out… They hit him with the fentanyl. If you look, the guy’s knee wasn’t even on his neck like that,” West said.
While Floyd had a trace amount of fentanyl in his system, both a coroner and medical experts concluded that he died from a lack of oxygen caused by former police officer Derek Chauvin placing his knee on top of Floyd’s neck for eight minutes. Chauvin was later convicted of Floyd’s murder and sentenced to 22 years in prison.
“Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl not the brutality established criminally and civilly undermines & diminishes the Floyd family’s fight,” Merritt added.
Over the course of his three-hour appearance on Drink Champs, West continued his antisemitic behavior by making numerous derogatory remarks about Jewish people. He also repeatedly insulted his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, her former boyfriend Pete Davidson, and several individuals including Puff Daddy and John Legend who have spoken out against West’s recent conduct. Most of West’s statements went unchallenged by the podcast’s hosts.
While one cannot defame the dead, the family of #GeorgeFloyd is considering suit for Kanye’s false statements about the manner of his death.
Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl not the brutality established criminally and civilly undermines & diminishes the Floyd family’s fight.
— Lee Merritt (@MerrittForTexas) October 16, 2022