Skip to content
News

Frank Ocean Sued by His Father for Defamation

PEMBERTON, BC - JULY 20: Frank Ocean performs on stage during Day 3 of Pemberton Music and Arts Festival on July 20, 2014 in Pemberton, Canada. (Photo by Andrew Chin/FilmMagic)

Frank Ocean’s father Calvin Cooksey has filed a defamation lawsuit against his son for comments the R&B star made following last year’s massacre inside an Orlando nightclub, TMZ reports. After the shooting, Ocean wrote a note on tumblr accusing his father of insulting a transgender woman at a restaurant.

“I was six years old when I heard my dad call our transgender waitress a faggot as he dragged me out a neighborhood diner saying we wouldn’t be served because she was dirty,” he wrote. “That was the last afternoon I saw my father and the first time I heard that word, I think, although it wouldn’t shock me if it wasn’t.”

Cooksey claims his son’s statement was untrue and has, as TMZ put it, “damaged his financial opportunities in film and music.” He’s seeking $14.5 million in damages, which is just a fraction of the $142 million he sought from Russell Simmons and his website Global Grind in 2014 for an article calling him a deadbeat dad. Cooksey also reportedly sued his son for $1 million in 2012.