Kanye West continues to cause outrage with his controversial remarks and could now be hit with a lawsuit by the family of George Floyd following the DONDA rapper’s latest appearance on Drink Champs, where he claimed Floyd died as a result of fentanyl.
On Sunday (Oct 16), civil rights attorney and attorney for George Floyd’s family, Lee Merrit, confirmed a lawsuit could be on the way.
“While one cannot defame the dead, the family of #GeorgeFloyd is considering suit for Kanye’s false statements about the manner of his death,” Merritt penned on Twitter.
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 (@MerrittForTexas) October 16, 2022
Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl not the brutality established criminally and civilly undermines & diminishes the Floyd family’s fight.
During the Drink Champs episode, Kanye West incorrectly stated that George Floyd died from taking 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,” Ye said.
Floyd was killed in 2020 after Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for over nine minutes. While it was determined Floyd had a trace amount of fentanyl in his system, a coroner and medical experts confirmed it was Chauvin’s knee cutting off his oxygen supply that killed him. Chauvin was later convicted of Floyd’s murder and sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Merritt continued: “Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl not the brutality established criminally and civilly undermines & diminishes the Floyd family’s fight.”
Kanye West made his comments after attending the premier of “Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM.” The documentary was made by controversial conservative commentator and vocal “Black Lives Matter” critic Candace Owens.
Elsewhere during his Drink Champs interview, Kanye discussed his controversial “White Lives Matter” design. He also spoke on the antisemitic comments that resulted in his social media suspensions.