Frank Ocean Files Response to Father’s $14.5 Million Libel Lawsuit

Frank Ocean has responded to a $14.5 million libel lawsuit from his father. As first reported back in February, Calvin Cooksey’s suit against his son specifically mentions a 2016 Tumblr post from Ocean in which he recalls a childhood memory of hearing his father call a transgender waitress a slur. Cooksey has denied this, but now TMZ reports that Ocean is “doubling down” in response to his father’s suit.

Ocean wants the case to be dismissed and for his father to cover the court costs. According to documents cited by the Fader Thursday, Ocean “admits he wrote the published essay” and that it “speaks for itself.” In the original Tumblr post in question, shared in the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting last summer, Ocean said:

I was 6 years old when I heard my dad call our transgender waitress a f****t as he dragged me out of a neighborhood diner saying we wouldn’t be served because she was dirty. 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.

In Cooksey’s suit, he claimed the Tumblr essay had damaged his “film and music” opportunities and called his son a “fraud.” Cooksey also labeled Tyler, the Creator as a “devil worshiper” and cited his temporary ban from the United Kingdom. Though Cooksey also mentioned Tyler being “banned” from Australia, Pitchfork notes that Tyler was never formally banned from the region.

Previously, Cooksey sued Russell Simmons in 2014 for $142 million.