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Drake filed a federal lawsuit against the Universal Music Group (UMG) and accused them of promoting Kendrick Lamar’s “Not like Us” hence putting his life and reputation at risk. The suit, brought in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accuses Universal of having “approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track.” According to Drake, the diss track was “intended to convey the specific, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response.”
The new lawsuit accused UMG of defamation and harassment with lyrics labelling Drake a “certified pedophile,” an example of valuing “corporate greed over the safety and wellbeing of its artists.” “This lawsuit is not about the artist who created ‘Not Like Us,’” the filing reads. “It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetise allegations that it understood were not only false but dangerous.”
In response to Drake’s lawsuit, a UMG spokesperson said, “Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist – let alone Drake – is illogical. We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.”
“Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back and forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists. He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music,” the statement continued.
The spokesman concluded by saying, “We have not and do not engage in defamation – against any individual. At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more than write a song.”
