Woman who once appeared 'obviously drunk' in Kanye West music video can't sue for defamation after footage used in Kanye-centric Netflix documentary jeen-yuhssays a federal judge, even if she later got sober and “turned her life around.”
Cynthia Love sued last year, alleging jeen-yuhs Filmmakers Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah defamed her by including the footage in the 2022 Netflix series. The clip, which showed Agapi dancing and slurring her words at a Chicago barbecue joint, was originally shot for the music video for 2003 for Kanye West's debut single, 'Through The Wire'.
Love's argument was unusual. He admitted the footage was authentic – usually the graveyard for a libel suit. But he argued that because he had later sobered up, it had become false and defamatory to use it today.
In a decision on Tuesday (February 27), the judge Steven Seager strongly rejected this argument, calling the video “historically accurate” and showing a “truth of the past”, even if it was a truth that Love did not want to remember.
“Holding up a mirror is not defamation. Holding up a 20-year-old photo is also not defamation,” the judge wrote. “Both reflect reality, like it or not.
It didn't matter that Love had “turned things around” later, the judge wrote, or that the Netflix doc depicts her in her “darkest moments” years ago: “'Jeen-yuhs' video accurately portrays love at a point in time several decades ago. The video does not suggest that Agapi remains intoxicated, or anything like that.”
Directed by Coodie & Chike (the filmmakers' pen name), jeen-yuhs charted West's career through unreleased archival footage, much of which was shot by Coodie over decades of working with the rapper. After landing at Netflix for $30 million, the series was released in February 2022 — just months before West would face widespread condemnation for a series of anti-Semitic remarks.
Years earlier, Love had appeared briefly in the video for 'Through The Wire', which Coodie & Chike directed in one of their first projects. The video showed Love drunkenly dancing at Chicago eater Original Leon's Bar-BQ. This footage, as well as additional unused footage showing her interaction with West, later surfaced jeen-yuhsmaking up about two minutes of footage in total over two episodes.
Love sued last year, accusing Coodie & Chike and Netflix of defamation and a wide range of other offenses. (West was not named or charged with any wrongdoing). She claimed they had “recklessly ignored the truth” that she had undergone “an amazing transformation” since the ugly video was filmed, damaging her reputation among her current peers: “Neighbours, colleagues and family can't help but see and to treat as someone less worthy of their respect, esteem and trust,” her lawyers wrote.
But in Tuesday's order dismissing those claims, Judge Seeger pointed out that “sometimes the truth hurts, and when the truth hurts, it's not defamation.” Summarizing her argument as “the video was true then, but it's not true now,” the judge told her that defamation law simply doesn't work.
“Plain and simple, any claim about Love in the 'Jeen-yuhs' documentaries is true,” wrote the judge. “The documentaries feature clips of Love from the real world, with no content censored or fake material added. It shows real clips of a real event.”
Attorneys for both sides did not immediately return a request for comment.
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