Highlights
- Frank Ocean's father sued him for $14.5 million, damaging their already strained relationship, after Ocean publicly claimed his father uttered a homophobic slur.
- Ocean in the end prevailed in the lawsuit, as a California federal judge ruled that his father had no longer proved defamation in a 2016 Tumblr put up.
- The Eagles considered suing Ocean over his track "American Wedding" due to the unauthorized sample of their music "Hotel California," but in the end never pursued criminal motion.
Soon after Frank Ocean adopted the title is understood for nowadays, he joined the music collective referred to as Odd Future. While several members of that group have enjoyed success, very few people can compete with Ocean making an allowance for how rich he's become.
While there is not any doubt that Ocean must really feel fortunate that he has attained fame and fortune, money and acclaim are not everything. For that reason, it is very unhappy to understand that Ocean was sued by any individual he will have to were in a position to consider, his father.
Why Did Frank Ocean's Father Sue Him?
After Frank Ocean's career first began to pick out up steam when he was a part of Odd Future, he began to strike out on his own in 2012. At that time, GQ interviewed Ocean for a profile that became out to be very telling about the proficient vocalist's background.
During that interview, Ocean spoke about his mother Katonya Breaux Riley with nice satisfaction and admiration. As Ocean explained, his mom worked tirelessly to make stronger her personal life and that of her youngsters.
While Ocean clearly spoke about his mother as anyone he respects, his comments about his father were scathing. When the interviewer asked Ocean about being introduced up by way of his mother after his folks divorced when he was six years previous, Ocean began through speaking about now not seeing his dad since then.
"I haven't seen him since. And for a while, you know, we were not middle-class. We were poor. But my mom never accepted that. She worked hard to become a residential contractor—got her master's with honors at the University of New Orleans. I used to go to every class with her."
Later all through that very same GQ interview, Ocean revealed that his mother didn't need him to get into tune. According to Ocean, the cause of that is his dad was a musician and his mom didn't want him to take after his father. "My dad had been a singer and keyboardist. So my mom was like, 'You're going to follow that bum? Maybe you should just go to law school.'"
Roughly a month after his GQ interview, Ocean tweeted about his father. In that tweet, Ocean once more brought up his father leaving behind him. While this is unhappy sufficient, Ocean additionally claimed that his father wanted to sue him for $1 million in 2012. "Father wanna sue me for a million. Like I owe him back child support. Weak individual bought me a swiss knife at 6yrs old then dipped on me."
Considering that Ocean believed his father sought after to sue him in 2012, some other people would possibly assume that it would not be too irritating when a lawsuit in the end was filed. However, when Ocean's father in reality sued him in 2017, that for sure did severe injury to their relationship that already was terrible.
When Frank Ocean's father, Calvin Edward Cooksey, sued him, it wasn't for $1 million which some other people could have assumed was a relief. In truth, however, the other was true as Cooksey was in quest of $14.5 million from his well-known son.
Before the lawsuit was filed, Ocean publicly claimed that after he was six years outdated he witnessed Cooksey uttering a homophobic slur at a transgender waitress. Claiming that the development by no means took place, Cooksey sued Ocean for libel. At the same time, Cooksey launched a commentary to Rolling Stone supposed to explain why he sued his son.
“The occasions that defendant describes on June twenty first 2016, that I referred to as a transgender waitress F****T NEVER HAPPENED … The defendant is a scam artist, a fraud and a hypocrite who lie to[d] the LGBT group on June twenty first, 2016 for the monetary luck of [Ocean’s album] Blonde.”
Since the prison machine moves slowly, Cooksey's lawsuit against Ocean took a very long time to achieve a court. More than two and a half years after the lawsuit was filed, a judge were given an opportunity to weigh in at the matter.
Fortunately for Ocean, he eventually prevailed in the legal matter and did not need to pay his father a thing. A Variety article concerning the result of the lawsuit explained why a judge ruled in favor of Ocean.
"A California federal judge ruled that Cooksey had not proved that Ocean defamed him with a 2016 Tumblr post, in which he recalled a childhood incident in which his father called a transgender waitress an anti-gay slur. Cooksey claimed the post cost him 'future financial opportunities in the film and music'."
Was Frank Ocean Sued By A Legendary Band?
Emotionally talking, it's laborious to think about a lawsuit that will be more devastating than being sued via a family member. However, Frank Ocean's attorneys most probably were telling him that his father's lawsuit would most certainly pass nowhere.
With that in mind, it sort of feels very most probably that most people can be more afraid if a legendary band was taking into account suing him. During the early 2010s, it was reported that The Eagles were contemplating suing Ocean over his song "American Wedding".
Featured as a part of Ocean's 2011 mixtape "Nostalgia, Ultra", "American Wedding" featured a pattern from The Eagles' track "Hotel California".
As one of the vital a hit bands of all time, The Eagles will have afforded professional legal professionals if they moved ahead with the lawsuit. On top of that, since Ocean did not have permission for the sample, it sort of feels like an excessively open-and-shut case.
After Don Henley reportedly reached out individually, Ocean wrote in regards to the scenario on Tumblr. In his publish, Ocean in reality seemed excited on the prospect of being sued by The Eagles.
“He (They) threatened to sue if I carry out it once more. I feel that’s fuckin’ awesome. I assume if I play it at Coachella it’ll price me a pair hundred racks . . . They also requested that I unencumber a remark expressing my admiration for Mr. Henley, alongside with my help pulling it off the web as much as possible.”
The Eagles then spoke back to Ocean's publish. "Frank Ocean did not merely “sample” a portion of the Eagles’ Hotel California; he took the whole master track, plus the song’s existing melody, and replaced the lyrics with his own. This is not creative, let alone “intimidating.” It’s illegal. For the record, Don Henley has not threatened or instituted any legal action against Frank Ocean, although the Eagles are now considering whether they should."
Ultimately, Ocean by no means released "American Wedding" commercially and The Eagles by no means sued.
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