Frank Ocean defeats his father's libel lawsuit
Photo by D Dipasupil/FilmMagic
Justice.
From Pitchfork:
Frank Ocean has won the libel suit that his father, Calvin Cooksey, filed against him earlier this year, Law360 reports and one of his attorneys has confirmed to Pitchfork. The lawsuit was in response to Frank’s 2016 Tumblr post that described his father using a gay slur when Frank was a child, which Cooksey claimed cost him “future financial opportunities” and more. He was seeking $14.5 million in damages. Frank’s attorney, Keith Bremer, confirmed to Pitchfork that the judge ruled in Frank’s favor. After announcing his decision from the bench on Tuesday afternoon, the judge is expected to deliver a full written decision this week. “It was a super sad case,” Bremer told Pitchfork in a statement. “I am sorry that my client had to go through this and am glad that we could bring closure.”
The win in court follows a lengthy legal process. Cooksey said the following in an email to Rolling Stone in February:
"I have never discriminated against anyone transgender or heterosexual or homosexual," Cooksey writes in an e-mail to Rolling Stone. "The events that defendant describes on June 21st 2016, that I called a transgender waitress FAGGOT NEVER HAPPENED ... The defendant is a scam artist, a fraud and a hypocrite who deceive[d] the LGBT community on June 21st, 2016 for the financial success of [Ocean's album] Blonde." Cooksey went on to call Ocean's post a "publicity stunt in the wake of the Orlando attack."
After the trial had concluded, Cooksey took to his Twitter account to vent:
Fuck the United States Central District Court! My reasons are in the records...these cheating MF clerks and judge legal staff are corrupted!
The covering up and certifying criminal misconduct! Not wasting my time with bullshit system! Son, appeal is dismissed...U win!
Funny how everyone that i thought loved me, has turned on me...everyone. In yes, it hurts! But, i am a good King, so they are forgiven!
Cooksey has since filed an appeal.