Mother Of George Floyd's Daughter Files $250 Million Lawsuit Against Kanye West

UPDATE 11:31 A.M. PST: The mother of George Floyd’s daughter has filed a $250 million lawsuit against Ye, citing his recent comments on the man’s death. Witherspoon Law Group and Dixon & Dixon Attorneys at Law and Roxie Washington, the mother of Gianna Floyd, said in a statement that 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.”

They added:

“The interests of the child are priority. George Floyd’s daughter is being traumatized by Kanye West’s comments and he’s creating an unsafe and unhealthy environment for her.”

Thoughts, Perezcious readers??

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George Floyd‘s family is considering legal action against Kanye West after his recent comments.

As we’ve been reporting, Ye shocked the world over the weekend by going on Drink Champs and not backing off his recent string of anti-Semitic comments in the slightest. In fact, he made more on the show — so many, in fact, and in such an aggressive manner, that interviewer N.O.R.E. called into The Breakfast Club on Monday morning to apologize for the whole s**t show.

In addition to those comments, the 45-year-old rapper also used the show to push a factually incorrect claim about George Floyd. Of course, Floyd was killed in May 2020 by now-former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, after Chauvin pinned his knee to the late man’s neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest. We all know what happened — unfortunately we all saw it on video.

At Chauvin’s trial in 2021, where he was eventually convicted of murder, multiple experts testified that the nearly ten minutes in which Floyd suffered with Chauvin’s knee on his neck was the cause of his death. We mean… obviously. However, Ye claimed on Drink Champs that Floyd supposedly suffered a fentanyl overdose, instead. Floyd did have fentanyl in his system at the time of his death, but that was not what killed him. Again, we all saw it. He didn’t happen to have an unrelated medical emergency while his neck was being crushed.

This is of course, in line with most of what Ye has been promulgating lately, along with the “White Lives Matter” and “Jews control Blacks” statements. The “free thinker” has somehow arrived on his own at all the talking points of white supremacists and the KKK. In this case, the implication is clear: cops aren’t killing Black men, they’re dying because of drugs. Who cares if you have to make up the facts to fit your narrative, right?

Now, Floyd’s grieving family is considering legal action against Kanye over the false drug claim. Speaking to People on Monday, George’s sister LaTonya Floyd said:

“The judge took the gavel in his hands and slammed it on the table, and his death was ruled as murder — which we all know it was. We have been through a lot. We have suffered a whole lot, and we are still suffering. The marches and the fights for justice are never gonna stop. For us to hear someone of color say something like that, it’s a really painful place.”

Ugh. We can’t even imagine.

Floyd family attorney Lee Merritt also spoke to the news org about Kanye’s comments. He told the outlet that George’s brother, Philonise Floyd, contacted him on Sunday morning. Now, Merritt’s law firm is “exploring possible legal recourse” against Ye, the attorney said.

He told the mag:

“There’s certainly potential for a lawsuit. I think the injury is real.”

And the attorney continued, explaining some about what the family has been through of late:

“These families wake up every day feeling the sting and the loss of their loved ones, and they continue to fight. They built their lives now around fighting to reform our legal systems, reform police use of force, to bring accountability. And to have someone who in the past has been seen as an ally, now repeatedly and consistently undermine their efforts and diminish the legacy of their loved ones, it’s bad behavior. It’s disappointing, for the families. It’s very frustrating. And I will do what I can to help them get some peace.”

Wow.

On Sunday, Merritt posted a response to Ye’s fentanyl death conspiracy on Twitter, as well. The lawyer stated:

“Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl not the brutality established criminally and civily undermines & diminishes the Floyd family’s fight.”

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

Now that fight might evolve as the family will have to decide whether some kind of defamation suit might be in order.

It wouldn’t be the first time victims’ next of kin have had to fight against gross false statements made for political points. The families of the child victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting just won nearly $1 billion in a hard-fought lawsuit against right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. So if the Floyds do decide to sue, Ye could be in for some hurt. After all, he may actually have a billion dollars.

It remains to be seen what Floyd’s grieving family will do here, but clearly, Ye’s comments were very hurtful to them.

[Image via MEGA/WENN/CBS Evening News/YouTube]