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New Lawsuit Over Meek Mill Documentary

By Max Mitchell
February 01, 2020

A former Philadelphia police officer has sued claiming she was defamed in a documentary about rapper Meek Mill's high-profile clashes with the city's legal system. Ex-police officer Sequeta Williams filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, alleging she was defamed in an episode of Free Meek, the documentary series that was made available on Amazon Prime last year. The complaint lists Amazon, Jay-Z and his entertainment company Roc Nation, rapper Meek Mill (a/k/a Robert Rihmeek Williams) and Rolling Stone publisher Wenner Media as defendants. Williams v. Williams, 2:2020cv00122 (E.D.Pa.).

According to the 33-page complaint, which Philadelphia attorney Steven Marino of Marino & Associates filed in January, the problematic area in the documentary occurred when a photograph of Sequeta Williams appeared while Defender Association of Philadelphia attorney Bradley Bridge and a journalist from Rolling Stone spoke about a list of allegedly problematic police officers that the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office maintains. The so-called "Do Not Call" list includes names of officers who prosecutors don't use as witnesses because their testimony is believed to be unreliable.

Although Williams is included on that list, she argues it's not because of any history of dishonesty, but rather for criminal charges that arose after four people tried to mug her and her significant other while she was off duty. "The communication presented in Season 1, Episode 4 of the documentary series 'Free Meek' entitled 'Filthadelphia' falsely imputes a message to the minds of the average persons among whom it is intended to circulate that plaintiff Sequeta Williams was a dirty and dishonest police officer," the complaint states.

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