Defamation

• Addressing claims of homophobia, the rapper wrote on Instagram: “I didn’t write the line about gay people.
• … I got love for all people.” He continued: “To me [by] ‘queer’ I don’t mean someone who’s gay.
• As rap music approaches its 50th anniversary in August, I believe it is increasingly embracing challenges to – and debates about – homophobia.

The history of homophobia in rap music

• Indeed, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, high-profile rap groups such as N.W.A and artists like DMX similarly used pejorative language against members of the gay and lesbian community.
• Perhaps the most famous rapper using homophobic lyrics is Eminem.
• Throughout this controversy, there was only a muted response from the rap community itself.
• Indeed, researchers who studied the link between rap music and resistance among young men of color to coming out found that it influenced some gay men’s decision to conduct any same-sex practices on the “down low” to avoid revealing their sexuality.

The start of change in rap community

• For example, in 2005 Kanye West apologized for his past homophobia and even urged fellow artists to cease using lyrics that degrade the LGBTQ+ community.
• These individual actions did not end anti-gay expression in rap, but it does, I believe, show progress among those in the hip-hop community.
• However, many present-day male rappers wear tight-fitting clothes – a fashion choice once considered “gay” and therefore demeaned in the rap world.
• Moreover, such outfits are created by gay fashion designers, a point that Offset acknowledged while defending himself against claims of homophobia.

Out of the closet and onto the mics

• Even more telling, I believe, is the growing number of mainstream LGBTQ+ rappers.
• Over the past decade, there has been a rise in the number of successful gay and lesbian emcees.
• Albeit the music of openly gay Lil Nas X is more pop than rap, it has sold over 1 million copies.
• Even 50 Cent, no stranger to homophobic lyrics, praised her on Instagram: “Young M.A the hottest s*** out right now.

Still room for growth in rap music

• But it does show that hip-hop has evolved to a point at which self-reflection and conversations are taking place on past and present instances of homophobia.
• That’s not to say that anti-gay beliefs don’t persist in the music of some.
• And at least for now, rap artists are called on it – increasingly by members of their own community.

• The civil trial ended in July 2022 after an astonishing 110 days of evidence and legal submissions.
• Besanko determined the newspapers did establish the “substantial truth” of some of the allegations, though not of others.
• Read more:
  A win for the press, a big loss for Ben Roberts-Smith: what does this judgment tell us about defamation law?

Substantial and contextual truth

• Besanko also found allegations of bullying by Roberts-Smith to be substantially true, but did not find that the newspapers had established the substantial truth of the domestic violence allegations.
• The “contextual” truth changes came in a push to have uniformity in defamation laws back in 2005.
• Under the law, they needed only to show the “substantial” truth of what they had alleged.
• Because the papers were able to establish the substantial truth of key aspects of the reporting, Roberts-Smith’s case failed.

What happens next?

• The newspapers requested three weeks to consider how much to seek for costs and third-party costs.
• There’s little doubt that both sides have each spent millions on their respective legal teams.

• View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230530005235/en/
  Texas Dairy Queen Operators’ Council is scouring the Lone Star state in search of “The Biggest Fan in Texas.” DQ fans can make their case as to why they are “The Biggest Fan in Texas” by visiting dqtexas.com/biggestdqfan.
• “DQ restaurants in Texas have been enjoyed by fans for more than 75 years,” says Lou Romanus, CEO of the Texas Dairy Queen Operator’s Council.
• As we search the Lone State, where will we find The Biggest DQ Fan in Texas?
• Whatever their story, the Texas Dairy Queen Operators’ Council wants to find the number one fan in Texas.

• The Rosen Law Firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses.
• WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the prospective class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=13327 or call Phillip Kim, Esq.
• The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation.
• 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017.