Afroman faces lawsuits after Adams County raid and viral videos

Joseph Foreman, known professionally as Afroman, says deputies executed a search warrant at his Adams County residence on August 21, leaving his property damaged and his home surveillance system disabled. The raid, he said, led him to channel the experience into new music and viral videos that have since sparked legal fights between the artist and several members of the Adams County Sheriff's Office.

Afroman said he was away when deputies arrived. "I was in Chicago. And my neighbors called me and told me that the police were all over my property," he said. Body-worn video and home surveillance captured deputies breaking through a gate and entering with guns drawn, footage Afroman later used in promotional material and music videos tied to his album Lemon Pound Cake, which he released shortly after the search.

The warrant was executed for alleged drug trafficking and kidnapping, according to Afroman. He said the drug allegation was not surprising to him, joking that law enforcement might expect "a million pounds of weed," but that the kidnapping claim was unexpected. "Snooping around and looking all in my closet and everything," he said. "Guess they thought I had a secret dungeon underneath my house or something."

Afroman says deputies disconnected his cameras and that "$400 came up missing from what they said they had. So the crime scene switches from my house to the police station. They started investigating themselves and they say it was simply a miscount." He added, "How do you miscount $400?" The Adams County Sheriff's Office described the search as part of an "ongoing investigation" and said Clermont County conducted an outside review that concluded no money was stolen, only miscounted.

Several deputies have filed suit against Afroman, alleging he used their images without authorization for commercial purposes. The complaint cites social media posts and merchandise, including an Instagram post showing a fan wearing a shirt reading "Officer Pound Cake" that paired deputies' likenesses with the cartoon character Peter Griffin and images of lemon pound cake. Plaintiffs allege humiliation, mental distress, threats to their safety and reputational harm, and seek more than $25,000 in damages as well as an order preventing further commercial use of their likenesses.

Afroman said he plans to file a countersuit against the sheriff's office for "defamation of character, stealing my money, tampering with evidence destroying my video cameras and vandalism." He has framed the album and videos as a way to "turn a bad situation into a good one," noting songs such as "Why You Disconnecting My Video Camera" and "Will You Help Me Repair My Door" grew out of his response to the raid.

For Adams County residents, the dispute raises practical questions about search-warrant procedures, evidence handling, and the boundaries between law enforcement privacy and commercial free speech. The pending lawsuits and any civil-rights claims will test local courts on those issues and may influence how deputies document raids and how residents safeguard home surveillance. Both sides are moving toward litigation, and the outcome will shape both legal standards and community trust in county law enforcement.