Lifestyle
Nikki Glaser’s Monologue and Other Moments From the 2025 Globes
The bar wasn’t set very high for the Golden Globes on Sunday night. After last year’s host, Jo Koy, memorably bombed, the emcee this year, Nikki Glaser, could hardly do worse. But she wasn’t content to merely do better. After workshopping her opening monologue in dozens of club appearances over the holidays, she killed when it counted, cracking up the stars on hand at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., and winning over viewers on social media. The rest of the night went more or less smoothly, with a mix of expected and surprise winners. But it wouldn’t be an awards ceremony if there weren’t some truly off-kilter moments. Here are the highs and lows as we saw them.
Best Host: Nikki Glaser
When Glaser began putting together her Golden Globes monologue in early December, she told her writing staff, “Don’t be scared to be weird.”
You saw evidence of this in her stellar monologue on Sunday, which included the kind of hard punchlines she is known for, including a good insult of Paramount+ and a joke about the effect of Sean Combs’s arrest on the after-party. But there was also an impression of Adam Sandler pronouncing Timothée Chalamet’s name that was just pure silliness — Sandler even joined in. Glaser doesn’t usually do impressions, but she committed and it went over really well, adding to the celebratory, fun tone to kick the night off.
If there was a joke that crushed in every test run, it was probably when she mentioned a few nominees: “‘Wicked,’ ‘Queer,’ ‘Nightbitch,’” then added “Not just things Ben Affleck yells after sex.” On Sunday, it killed again. — Jason Zinoman
Glaser’s night started on the red carpet with a billowing strapless gold ball gown. For her first onstage appearance, she changed into a sequined silver sleeveless gown. By 8:30, she was on her third dress of the night. An hour into the ceremony, she was on Dress No. 5 (a sequined pink sleeveless stunner). By the end of the night, she had donned what seemed like 47 more. All that was missing? We’d have loved to see a dupe of Demi Moore’s viral yellow “Substance” coat. — Sarah Bahr
Most Refreshing Development: Unexpected Winners
Thus far, it’s been an excitingly unpredictable awards season, and though the Globes certainly gave a lot of hardware to already-strong contenders like “Emilia Pérez” and “The Brutalist,” it still feels like a wide open field. In the acting races, unexpected wins for the likes of Demi Moore, Fernanda Torres and Sebastian Stan produced some of the most heartfelt speeches of the night and made already competitive Oscar categories even harder to predict. And a total shutout of “Anora,” which went into Sunday flying high, means that little is decided this season, a fun development after several years in which the ultimate Oscar winners seemed a foregone conclusion long before the Globes weighed in. — Kyle Buchanan
Least Refreshing Development: Retro Red-Carpet Looks
Given that Hollywood awards shows celebrate the art of playing a role, perhaps it shouldn’t have been a big surprise that the dominant trend of the 2025 Globes red carpet was … retro role-playing. Ariana Grande did her best Audrey Hepburn impression in 1966 Givenchy couture; Selena Gomez channeled Jackie Kennedy in ice-blue Prada and a stylized bob; and Nicole Kidman and Margaret Qualley sported enormous Catherine Deneuve bouffants — all in a sea of mostly traditional tuxedos.
You can call it a return to classicism, or a retreat to the past, or the legacy of Joan Rivers, who instilled the fear of mockery in celebrities everywhere. But by the time Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro had arrived in their newfangled Balmain and Dior versions of oldfangled 1950s ball gowns, it was hard not to wish that the stylists and designers working behind the scenes would start facing forward rather than back, and convince their clients to take a few more (unscripted) risks. — Vanessa Friedman
Read more about the red carpet looks.
Most Rousing Speech: Demi Moore
While the Globes have no direct bearing on Oscar nominations, academy members are surely paying attention, and Demi Moore, who won for “The Substance,” may have landed herself a spot in the best actress category with her rousing speech. Both poignant and relatable, Moore spoke movingly about her career struggles over more than 30 years, including being told she was a “popcorn actress.” She added that she had received the “bonkers” script for “The Substance” when she was at a low point in her career, thinking she was done.
But at 62, Moore has had a reversal of fortune and the stars in the room cheered her on, some even giving her a standing ovation. Thinking of “those moments when we don’t think we’re smart enough, or pretty enough, or skinny enough, or successful enough, or basically just not enough,” Moore said, a woman told her, “Just put down the measuring stick.” — Nicole Sperling
Most Sincere Speech: Tadanobu Asano
Many Golden Globe nominees have been to the Beverly Hilton before. And although the Globes are now a more serious operation than they once were, actors still treat wins with varying levels of reverence. That made Tadanobu Asano’s acceptance speech for “Shogun” stand out. It was his first win, on his first nomination, and it showed. “Maybe you don’t know me,” he began. “I’m an actor from Japan. My name is Tadanobu Asano. Wow!” His peers stood and cheered him on. And as he grinned and clutched his award, he added: “This is a very big present for me!” He sure seemed like he meant it. — Matt Stevens
Weirdest Honor: Box Office Achievement
The award for “cinematic and box office achievement” debuted in 2024, and this year it was, unsurprisingly, given to “Wicked.” The official criteria is that it is the “most acclaimed, highest-earning and/or most viewed” feature, which basically describes every nominated film. But it also must have made $150 million worldwide, with at least $100 million domestically, which is pretty much the dictionary definition of a blockbuster. (“Wicked” finished 2024 with well over $680 million worldwide.)
This is a weird award to give out, and its presenter Vin Diesel made it even weirder by contrasting, in his preamble, his own “Fast and Furious” series and the work of Steven Spielberg (who invented the summer blockbuster with “Jaws” in 1975). But it’s also just a tad participation trophy-ish to hand out a golden statue to celebrate a movie making bank at the box office, no matter how fun the movie is. To quote Don Draper: “That’s what the money’s for.” — Alissa Wilkinson
Biggest Lesson Not Learned
Amid an onslaught of commercials for weight loss injections and various pharmaceutical creams, pills, drops and supplements, Nikki Glaser took some of the usual potshots at Hollywood’s penchant for plastic surgery. “I love where you put your cheekbones!” she riffed to the audience in her opening monologue.
But unlike other hosts, she acknowledged that she had been getting her tweaks on, too. Claiming, with air quotes, that she had started healthy habits like “drinking more water,” she said: “I love how meditating removes your eyelids” — aka the common tuck known as an upper bleph. “I learned nothing from ‘The Substance,’” she added.
That that movie, a feminist body horror tale, won Demi Moore her first Globe for playing an aging star who finds a grotesque way to youthify herself, only added to the evening’s hall of mirrors. — Melena Ryzik
Best and Worst Innovation: Telecast Fun Facts
Hey, did you know that Mindy Kaling was named after the TV show “Mork & Mindy?” Or that Zoe Saldaña’s go-to karaoke song is “Piece of My Heart”? The Golden Globes went all “Pop-Up Video” during the telecast, sharing these “facts” about winners and presenters via onscreen text. At first, the addition seemed semi-clever, but it all became too much when the announcer shared more facts on top of the ones we had to read. Even if you’re celebrity-obsessed, this turned out to be T.M.I. — Mekado Murphy
I found the trivia at the Golden Globes to be refreshingly weird. Awards season fun-facts can feel so canned: who spent time with who to prepare for a role, when was the last big win for a nominee. T.M.I. or not, my night was greatly improved by learning that Demi Moore is an avid doll collector with a separate residence to house her more than 2,000 vintage dolls. — Annie Aguiar
Wisest Advice: ‘Hacks’
The Globes are a notoriously boozy affair, but after “Hacks” won for best television comedy, Paul W. Downs, a co-creator of the series, warned against giving his star a celebratory drink. The show is currently in production on its fourth season, and a 6 a.m. call time awaited the cast and crew the next morning.
“So if Jean Smart asks you for a shot, please do not give it to her, OK?” Downs said. “Kate Winslet, I’m looking at you, wherever you are. Give her water.” The camera cut to Winslet, who shook a finger at Downs. Downs relinquished, “Just a little shot. Maybe one.” — Esther Zuckerman
Most Supportive Presenter: Elton John
Elton John reacted like a proud parent when he announced that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross had won best original score for “Challengers,” yelping with utter, seemingly genuine delight. He was a good stand-in for those of us in the audience who were thrilled to see a win for that thumping, propulsive music. When Reznor and Ross took the stage, John could be seen grinning eagerly behind them, as if he had just won himself. — Kellina Moore
Strangest Camera Work
For an ostensibly glamorous ceremony, the show itself looked terrible onscreen. Presenters were filmed awfully close up, giving everything a harsh and casual vibe. The swirling camera work during some of the acceptance speeches felt like the red carpet slo-mo booth had broken out of its enclosure. And presenters did not face the entire theater, but rather turned directly to a camera off to one side. Seth Rogen called it out, saying “It’s inelegant. It’s strange. This whole half of the room can see my bald spot. I would have filled that in. I said no, but I regret that now.” — Margaret Lyons
Scattered orange California poppies, California Lilac with bright blue blooms, and hummingbird sage with dark rose-lilac-colored flowers spontaneously tell us what we already know: Spring has arrived.
Southern California, especially Los Angeles, has many breathtaking botanical gardens and wildflower-lined hiking trails. But it’s also exciting to visit private home gardens that are rarely open to the public and find inspiration even if you don’t have space for a garden at home.
This year’s spring garden tours include a visit to a historic Midcentury Modern home designed by Buff, Straub and Hensman, complete with a river running through the property as part of the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Tour. You can also check out a native garden at a Long Beach elementary school that is usually closed to visitors, or see how a young couple used a $5,000 turf rebate from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to transform their Inglewood yard during the Theodore Payne Foundation’s two-day Native Plant Garden Tour.
Whether you love gardening or simply enjoy beautiful landscapes and meeting other plant lovers, these tours offer plenty of ideas you can use long after your visit. From native plants to rose gardens, here are this spring’s local garden tours.
Blooming California poppies remind us that spring is here.
(Stella Kalinina / For The Times)
March 29
The Poppy Day Garden Tour raises money for the South Coast chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Visit 10 native plant gardens across the South Bay that support wildlife and help save water. The tour runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets cost $15 in advance or $20 at the door, if available. Children and teens under age 18 get in free. For tickets and more information, visit cnps-south-coast.square.site.
The Creative Arts Group’s Art of the Garden Tour features self-guided visits to five gardens in Pasadena, Altadena and La Cañada Flintridge from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets cost $45 in advance or $50 on the day of the event. This tour is the nonprofit’s biggest fundraiser of the year, supporting arts programs, exhibitions and classes for children and adults. Please note that photography, pets and children under age 12 are not allowed on the tours. You can also stop by the Creative Arts Group Gallery at 108 N. Baldwin Ave. in Sierra Madre to buy tickets in person and see artwork from more than 25 local artists. For more information, visit creativeartsgroup.org.
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
April 11-12
Theodore Payne Foundation’s Native Plant Garden Tour: Habitats That Heal is a showcase for 42 gardens across Los Angeles, each with at least half native plants. The self-guided tour runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days. On April 11, you can visit 20 gardens in neighborhoods in Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, North Hollywood, Shadow Hills, Tujunga, Montrose, Burbank, Glendale, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, South Pasadena, Pasadena and Altadena. On April 12, the tour covers gardens in Santa Monica, Venice, West L.A., Del Rey, Baldwin Hills, Mid-City, Inglewood, South L.A., Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Hollywood, Los Feliz, Glassell Park, Highland Park, Mt. Washington, El Sereno and Alhambra. Tickets cost $55, or $50 for members, and children under age 16 are free. If you buy a ticket, you’ll receive a guidebook in the mail, which also serves as your ticket. Starting March 26, tickets and maps are only available for purchase in person at the foundation office in Sun Valley from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The office is closed on Sunday and Monday. For more information, visit nativeplantgardentour.org.
California Native Plant Society’s San Diego Native Garden Tour is a showcase of 31 private gardens across the city, including the CNPS San Diego Native Plant Teaching Garden, Southwestern College Botanical Garden, Paradise Hills and Native West Nursery. Each garden in the self-guided tour uses at least 60% California native plants, demonstrating how these gardens protect local biodiversity. The tour is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $45; children age 17 and under are free. Will call locations and instructions will be emailed after ticket purchase at eventbrite.com.
A “Welcome to California” sign is seen at Prisk Native Plant Garden in Long Beach.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
April 12 and 19
The Prisk Native Plant Garden Open House is celebrating its 30th year with an annual tour of the garden, which is usually closed to the public. You can visit from 1 to 4 p.m. both days at William F. Prisk Elementary School, 2375 Fanwood Ave. in Long Beach. The garden is located behind the school at East Los Arcos Street and Albury Avenue. Admission is free, but donations are welcome. For more information, visit facebook.com/prisknativegarden.
April 19
The Garden Conservancy Pasadena Open Days Tour welcomes you to visit four private gardens at historic homes. You can see Buff, Straub and Hensman’s Midcentury Modern Norton House, the 1916 Spanish Revival-style home called Mi Sueño del Sur, a Southern California Arts and Crafts garden, and the rose gardens of a historic Pasadena estate from the 1900s. The tour runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets cost $10 per garden and are available online only. Children ages 12 and under can join the tour for free with an adult. For more information, visit gardenconservancy.org.
Desert gardens with native plants at the Mojave Land Trust in Joshua Tree.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The Morongo Basin Conservation Assn. is hosting its 15th Annual Desert-Wise Landscape Tour. This self-guided event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and features four private gardens in Pioneertown and Yucca Valley, along with three demonstration gardens in Joshua Tree. Tickets cost $25, or $20 for members. You can find tickets and more information on the MBCA website, mbconservation.org. On the day of the tour, registration will only be available at the Mojave Desert Land Trust in Joshua Tree.
April 25
Habitat Garden Tours at Caroline Park and Ryan Bonaminio Park, the Riverside-San Bernardino Chapter of the California Native Plant Society is offering free tours of two large native plant gardens within city parks in Redlands and Riverside. Morning tours of the 16-acre Caroline Park in Redlands, which is dedicated to California native plants, will be held at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Park near the corner of Mariposa Drive and Poppy Road, then enter the park using the trail to the left of the Caroline Park sign. Meet at the kiosk upon arrival. Afternoon tours at Ryan Bonaminio Park in Riverside, which features restored native plants from local floodplains and upland areas that support pollinators, will be held at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Park on the west end of the parking lot to access the decomposed granite path leading to the 1.17-acre habitat garden. The tours are free, and you are welcome to join at any scheduled time. For more information, visit: chapters.cnps.org/riversidesanbernardino.
April 25-26
The Floral Park Home & Garden Tour in North Santa Ana invites you to explore historic homes and gardens from the 1920s to the 1950s from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both days. Along with the tours, you can enjoy the Street of Treasures Market, sample food from local restaurants and check out a car show. All proceeds help fund community scholarships and support nonprofit organizations. Tickets cost $45 if you buy them by April 20, or $50 at the door. For more details, visit floralparkhometour.com.
The Riverside Community Flower Show & Garden Tour: Garden Party features self-guided tours of six local gardens, with master gardeners on hand to answer your questions. Tours are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. You can also visit a free flower show at the Riverside Elks Lodge, 6166 Brockton Ave., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the garden tour is $10, and children under 16 get in free. For more information, visit riversideflowershow.com.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
April 26
The 35th Annual Bungalow Heaven Home Tour features self-guided walks through eight homes, with volunteer docents ready to share each home’s history and architecture. Although the focus is on architecture, many of the homes in the landmark district have lovely landscaped backyards that guests are welcome to visit and admire. McDonald Park will be lively all day with music, a silent auction of unique items, homemade cookies and local food trucks for lunch. It’s from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Advance tickets are $25 at bungalowheaven.org and available until April 25 at 8 p.m. Tickets on the day of the tour are $30 and can be bought at McDonald Park, 1000 E. Mountain St., starting at 9:40 a.m. Part of the proceeds will go to San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity to help those affected by the Eaton fire.
May 2
The Laguna Beach Garden Club’s 20th Gate & Garden Tour starts at the Bruce Scherer Waterwise and Fire-Safe Gardens, located at 306 3rd St. in Laguna Beach. Special buses will take ticket holders to visit several local gardens. You can buy Mexican food and artisanal margaritas and enjoy free homemade baked goods. Artists will be painting in some of the gardens, and if you wear a festive garden party hat, you’ll be entered in the club’s hat contest. Proceeds help fund school gardens, local scholarships and community projects. The tours run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please note that children are not allowed. Timed-entry tickets are $65.87 online, which includes entry between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., plus one food item and one drink. Find tickets at eventbrite.com.
A welcome sign at one of the garden’s in last year’s Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
May 2-3
The Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour: Real Gardens by Real People features self-guided tours of 34 gardens spanning Long Beach to San Clemente from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. The tour is free, but donation jars will be set out at the gardens to support the Sheepfold, a crisis center for women and children that has long been the foundation’s annual tour beneficiary. For more information, visit heardsgardentour.com.
May 3
Inspired Garden Artistry invites you to the Blooms with a View Garden Tour, featuring 10 private home gardens in View Park, Windsor Hills, Ladera Heights and Baldwin Hills. The tour runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can also enjoy the free Garden & Community Resource Expo at Ladera Park’s south entrance, 4750 W. 62nd St. during the same hours. The expo offers artisans, landscape architects, nurseries, local community services, food trucks, giveaways, a plant swap and fun activities for families. Tickets are $30 online until April 15 and $35 from April 16 through May 3. Kids ages 12 and under enter free. To learn more, visit inspiredgardenartistry.com.
Join the 28th Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Assn. & Hospice Camarillo Garden Tour and explore four beautiful Camarillo gardens from noon to 4 p.m. Artists from the Pastel Society of the Gold Coast will be giving demonstrations in at least two of the gardens. Tickets are $30 online, and all proceeds support the association’s hospice program in Camarillo. For more information, visit lmvna.org/gardentour.
May 9
The West Floral Park and Jack Fisher Park neighborhoods are hosting the 19th annual Open Garden Day, featuring tours of two tree-lined areas with vintage homes in North Santa Ana. Enjoy live music, art displays, garden talks and demonstrations, a classic car display, and free bottled water at the gardens. In the morning, you can buy coffee and doughnuts, and vendors will offer food and garden products from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tours run from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with a shuttle service between the two tour loops to help reduce wait times. Tickets go on sale online starting March 20 for $20, or you can buy them for $25 on the day of the event at West Santa Clara and North Westwood avenues in Santa Ana. For more information, visit opengardenday.com.
(Silke Gathmann)
May 14
The 29th Newport Harbor Home & Garden Tour, hosted by Barclay Butera Interior Design, invites guests to explore six locally designed homes and gardens near Newport Harbor High School from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The day begins with a morning reception at 9 a.m., followed by a luncheon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and ends with a reception at Barclay Butera from 2 to 5 p.m. This event raises funds for the Newport Harbor Educational Foundation to help support academic programs and faculty at Newport Harbor High School. Tickets are available online for $125 until April 24 at newportharborhometour.com.
May 16
The San Clemente Garden Club’s 2026 Garden Tour offers self-guided tours and live entertainment at several local gardens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can buy tickets online ahead of time for $40 each, or $35 each if you buy four or more. Tickets on the day of the event are $50. All proceeds help fund the club’s college scholarships, junior gardeners programs, local conservation groups and civic beautification projects in San Clemente. For more information, visit sanclementegardenclub.com.
A Matilija poppy grows in West Hills.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
May 17
The Rossmoor Woman’s Club is hosting its 22nd Garden Tour, offering self-guided visits to five or six private gardens in the Rossmoor-Los Alamitos area of Orange County, just north of Seal Beach. The tour runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will also be a marketplace with vendors and refreshments. Tickets cost $20 and will be available online in April or at the club’s outdoor marketplace at the Farmers & Merchants Bank, 12535 Seal Beach Blvd., on the day of the tour. All proceeds go to local charities and college scholarships for Los Alamitos High School students. For more information, visit rossmoorwomansclub.org.
A jury sided with apper Afroman, whose legal name is Joseph Foreman, in a defamation lawsuit brought by Ohio police who raided his home.
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
hide caption
toggle caption
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Afroman was just trying to turn lemons into “Lemon Pound Cake” when he started making music videos and social media posts mocking the law enforcement officers who conducted a heavy-handed raid on his Ohio home.
Home surveillance video of the August 2022 raid shows half a dozen gun-wielding law-enforcement officers from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office deputies kicking down his door, combing through his CD collection, going through his suit pockets, flipping through a wad of cash and, in one case, briefly getting distracted by a cake dish on the kitchen counter.
The search, on suspicion of drug trafficking and kidnapping, didn’t yield any evidence or charges against the rapper, whose legal name is Joseph Foreman. But he says officers broke his gate and security surveillance wiring, took $400 in cash and frightened his family. He wasn’t home at the time, but his wife and kids, then 10 and 12, were present.
“I asked myself, as a powerless Black man in America, what can I do to the cops that kicked my door in, tried to kill me in front of my kids, stole my money and disconnected my cameras?” Afroman told NPR in 2023. “And the only thing I could come up with was make a funny rap song about them … use the money to pay for the damages they did and move on.”
The rapper, best known for early aughts hits like “Because I Got High” and “Crazy Rap (Colt 45 and 2 Zig-Zags),” made waves again with the 2023 release of Lemon Pound Cake. Its 14 songs have titles like “The Police Raid,” “Why You Disconnecting My Video Camera” and “Will You Help Me Repair My Door,” featuring home surveillance footage in the music videos.
He also posted memes and sold merchandise satirizing the incident and the people involved. Common themes range from poking fun at the deputies’ appearances (comparing them to Family Guy’s Peter Griffin and Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame) to more serious allegations of extramarital affairs and pedophilia amongst department members.
Afroman called his approach “the smartest, most peaceful solution.” But the sheriff’s deputies disagreed. The seven law enforcement officers sued him in 2023 for defamation and invasion of privacy, saying his unauthorized use of their likenesses hurt their reputations and made it harder to do their jobs. They sought the content’s removal and $3.9 million in damages.
That didn’t stop Afroman from releasing increasingly personal songs about the deputies involved, including one ahead of his trial this week called “The Batteram Hymn of the Police Whistleblower.”
“They vandalize my property, my money came up short / they disconnect my cameras because they are a poor sport,” he sings while marching solemnly in an American flag suit. “They’re the predators and the victims and they’re suing me in court / my proof’s on the Internet.”
The three-day trial focused on heavy topics like policing and free speech, though there was no shortage of viral, sitcom-esque exchanges. On Wednesday, after less than a day of deliberations, the jury sided squarely with the rapper.
“I didn’t win, America won,” Afroman, 51, told reporters outside the court, dressed in his American flag-patterned suit, tie and aviators, topped with a white fur coat. “America still has freedom of speech. It’s still for the people, by the people.”
NPR has reached out to both the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and its lawyer, but did not hear back in time for publication.
A quick recap of a quick trial
Both sides clearly felt wronged by the other, but the primary question before the jury was whether Afroman’s response to the raid counted as protected free speech. He and his lawyer argued it did.
“I got the right to kick a can in my backyard, use my freedom of speech, turn my bad times into a good time,” the rapper said from the stand. “Yes, I do, and I think I’m a sport for doing so, because I don’t go to their house, kick down their doors, flip them off on their surveillance cameras, then try to play the victim and sue them.”
He also said none of this would have happened if they hadn’t raided his house: “This whole thing is their fault, and they’re suing me for their mistake.”
But Robert Klingler, representing the deputies, framed it to the jury this way: “A search warrant execution that you think was unfair … doesn’t justify telling intentional lies designed to hurt people.” He said a verdict in their favor would “make up in some way for what they’ve been through.”
Several of the law enforcement officers testified about how Afroman’s actions affected their personal and professional lives.
Shawn Cooley — the now-retired deputy who was caught on camera checking out the cake — said he’s received “hundreds of poundcakes at work from different people” and was even recognized by cops while working cases in other jurisdictions, in addition to his own community members.
“I had one guy come out of a bedroom after me, call me a thief and want to know why I stole Afroman’s money,” Cooley said. “It just went from being a nice, quiet community, a job you felt safe in, to a place where you had to look over your shoulder every second.”
Another, Brian Newland, said he was forced to quit his “dream job” with the sheriff’s office due to Afroman’s claims of him being a pedophile, which he denies. Deputy Lisa Phillips cried on the stand about one of Afroman’s more explicit songs that questioned her gender and sexuality.
When asked if he saw that, Afroman acknowledged that Phillips was upset by the online trolling, “just like I was upset when she was standing in front of my kids with an AR-15 in her hand around the trigger.”
“But I’m not a person, she is,” Afroman added. “So, I’m sorry for being a victim, let’s talk about the predators.”
In addition to traumatizing his family and damaging his property, Afroman maintained that the deputies stole money from him. They seized thousands of dollars in cash from his home, which Afroman said was payment for a gig, but returned it $400 short. The sheriff’s office has explained the discrepancy by saying deputies originally miscounted the money, which Newland took responsibility for on the stand.
The defense only called one witness: Rhonda Grooms, a teacher and the ex-wife of sheriff’s deputy Cooley. She was asked whether she and her students were familiar with the Cardi B song “WAP,” which stirred controversy with its overtly sexual lyrics in 2020, and testified that none of them took the words literally.
Afroman’s lawyer, David Osborne, pointed to other explicit rap songs to argue that artists tend to exaggerate for the sake of entertainment (at one point he argued that no one listens to Lil Wayne’s song “P***y Monster” and says “there’s a monster in that song”).
He said that’s what Afroman was doing in his songs, and that many of the terms that deputies found offensive were not facts but matters of opinion — like one that calls Sgt. Randy Walters a “son of a b***h,” which Osborne said there was no definitive way to prove or disprove.
“She’s been dead for years,” Walters replied matter-of-factly, prompting a chuckle and condolences from the defense lawyer.
In his closing statements, Osborne pointed to rap as an established form of social commentary, saying police and public officials are called names online all the time, whether or not they like it. And he rephrased the plaintiff’s question about what a liable verdict would mean.
“What does this message send if we find that music and social commentary, while maybe not the most tasteful thing in the world, is silenced because a public official [was] hurt by it?” Osborne asked.
Viral moments put the case in the public eye
Some of the most fever-dream-like moments of the trial took off in social media clips: Afroman defiant in his American-flag suit, deputies soberly discussing lemon pound cake, the defense lawyer’s garbling of Cardi B’s name.
Many of the commenters remarked that by bringing the case to court, the deputies brought it to the public’s attention. Several highlighted the irony of an invasion of privacy case going viral online, calling it an example of the “Streisand effect” (named after Barbra Streisand’s 2003 lawsuit to remove a photo of her home from the web that only brought more eyes to it).
The”Lemon Pound Cake” music video has 3.8 million views on YouTube as of Thursday — and the top comments are all about the trial.
“Shout out to the cops for making sure I saw this absolute bop!” reads one with over 8,000 likes.
Afroman, who said on the stand that he did an estimated 250 shows last year, acknowledged that the attention had boosted his follower count, which is almost 600,000 on Instagram alone.
“All the publicity from the officers’ lawsuit on me is running up my numbers,” he said.
Spring events at Maryland Zoo
Michigan vs. Saint Louis scouting report, prediction for March Madness second round
Massachusetts man charged with threatening girlfriend of FBI Director Patel
How to buy Minnesota Regional 2026 March Madness women’s tickets
Where to watch Texas vs. Missouri State in March Madness First Round: Time, TV Channel
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
Meet the longtime biz partner of Ilhan Omar’s husband as questions swirl over her skyrocketing net worth
‘Nobody can blackmail us’: Leaders excoriate Orbán’s veto
Trump is dismantling democracy at ‘unprecedented’ speed, global report finds
4 House Dems vote against Women’s History Museum bill over biological women-only amendment, Republican claims
Iran attacks cut 17% of Qatar’s LNG capacity for up to 5 years: QatarEnergy
-
Oklahoma6 days agoFamily rallies around Oklahoma father after head-on crash
-
Detroit, MI1 day agoDrummer Brian Pastoria, longtime Detroit music advocate, dies at 68
-
Nebraska1 week agoWildfire forces immediate evacuation order for Farnam residents
-
Georgia4 days agoHow ICE plans for a detention warehouse pushed a Georgia town to fight back | CNN Politics
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMassachusetts community colleges to launch apprenticeship degree programs – The Boston Globe
-
Alaska5 days agoPolice looking for man considered ‘armed and dangerous’
-
Colorado1 week ago‘It’s Not a Penalty’: Bednar Rips Officials For MacKinnon Ejection | Colorado Hockey Now
-
Southwest1 week agoTalarico reportedly knew Colbert interview wouldn’t air on TV before he left to film it