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Topics: News, Kanye West, Celebrity, Black Lives Matter, Racism, George Floyd
Charisa Bossinakis
Topics: News, Kanye West, Celebrity, Black Lives Matter, Racism, George Floyd
George Floyd’s family is considering suing Kanye West after the rapper falsely claimed he died from fentanyl instead of police brutality.
The rapper recently commented on Floyd's death while speaking about Candace Owen’s documentary The Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM.
Ye told the Drink Champs podcast: “I watched the George Floyd documentary that Candace Owens put out.
"One of the things that his two roommates said was they want a tall guy like me, and the day that he died, he said a prayer for eight minutes.
“They hit him with the fentanyl. If you look, the guy’s knee wasn’t even on his neck like that.”
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While medical experts said Floyd had traces of fentanyl in his system, doctors confirmed it was Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee on his neck, cutting off his oxygen supply, that killed him, as per The News York Times.
In the wake of Ye's comments, Floyd’s family lawyer, civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, announced that they are considering a defamation lawsuit against him.
He wrote on Twitter today (Monday, October 17): “While one cannot defame the dead, the family of #GeorgeFloyd is considering suit for Kanye’s false statements about the manner of his death.
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“Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl not the brutality established criminally and civilly undermines & diminishes the Floyd family’s fight.”
In the same interview, the ‘Runaway’ singer then proceeded to compare Floyd to the late Virgil Vbloh.
“This white company Louis Vuitton is now making statues of him as a martyr, and we don’t know why exactly [he died], they said it was cancer,” he said.
Kanye’s remarks come after he received immense backlash for debuting his ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirts during Paris Fashion Week alongside Candace Owens.
Several models were also captured sporting the t-shirt with the phrase printed on the back while walking the runway.
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But as soon as the design surfaced on the internet, users were left outraged.
One person wrote: "Kanye West making Black models wear 'White Lives Matter' shirts is a culmination of his anti blackness and his immersion in white supremacy ideologies and methods. Disgusting.”
While another said: “Kanye West decision to wear a “White Lives Matter” shirt is disgusting, dangerous, and irresponsible. Some of y’all will rush to defend him. You should ask yourselves why.”
UNILAD has reached out to George Floyd's family for comment.