Music
Frank Ocean Defends Himself From Allegedly Antigay Father
The out singer wrote a Tumblr post about his dad's homophobia and transphobia. His father responded by suing him.
May 13 2017 12:54 PM EST
May 13 2017 1:27 PM EST
Nbroverman
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The out singer wrote a Tumblr post about his dad's homophobia and transphobia. His father responded by suing him.
Shortly after last year's Pulse massacre in Florida, singer Frank Ocean took to Tumblr to share a scarring childhood experience.
"I was six years old when I heard my dad call our transgender waitress a faggot as he dragged me out of a neighborhood diner saying we wouldn't be served because she was dirty," Ocean 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."
Ocean's estranged father, Calvin Cooksey, responded by slapping his son with a $14.5 million libel suit, saying the anti-LGBT accusations were untrue and cost him business deals. Cooksey also claimed his son hatched a "diabolical plot" to destroy him.
The Grammy-winning singer responded to the lawsuit recently, according to Rolling Stone. Ocean stood by the veracity of his post, denied he's trying to destroy his father, and worked to get the suit dismissed on procedural grounds.
"Defendant admits he wrote the published essay," Ocean's attorneys wrote. "Defendant admits the essay speaks for itself."