Drake has updated his legal complaint against Universal Music Group (UMG), arguing that Kendrick Lamar’s widely viewed Super Bowl halftime performance proves that UMG played a role in defaming him.
In a revised version of the lawsuit filed on April 16, the Canadian rapper added new claims stemming from events that have happened since his initial filing in January.
Specifically, Drake’s legal team criticizes Kendrick’s Super Bowl LIX performance, alleging it introduced his diss track “Not Like Us” to “millions of children” who had “never before heard the song or any of the songs that preceded it.” The complaint describes the performance as “the first, and will hopefully be the last, Super Bowl halftime show orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist.”
Drake also references Kendrick’s decision to censor the word “pedophile” during the performance as further indication that the song contained defamatory content.
Additionally, the filing mentions the Compton rapper’s Grammy wins for “Not Like Us” and its broadcast to an audience of 15 million, something Drake argues wouldn’t have happened without UMG’s approval.
Previously, Drake accused UMG of using bots to inflate the streaming numbers for the diss track—an accusation originally supported by an anonymous individual featured on a livestream by Akademiks. However, in the latest amendment, he has softened this claim, no longer referencing the livestream and instead asserting that “UMG was aware that third parties were using bots to stream the recording and turned a blind eye, despite having the power to stop such behavior.”
Drake’s attorneys stated, “Drake’s amended complaint makes an already strong case stronger. UMG’s PR ‘spin’ and failed efforts to avoid discovery cannot suppress the facts and the truth. With discovery now moving forward, Drake will expose the evidence of UMG’s misconduct, and UMG will be held accountable for the consequences of its ill-conceived decisions.”
In response, UMG strongly denied the claims, asserting: “Drake, unquestionably one of the world’s most accomplished artists and with whom we’ve enjoyed a 16-year successful relationship, is being misled by his legal representatives into taking one absurd legal step after another.”
They also noted that Drake and his lawyers “quietly dropped” a prior legal filing in Texas, which had been launched with significant attention last November.
According to UMG, “In New York in January, Drake’s counsel filed a defamation lawsuit. Fearful of being sanctioned by the court for asserting false allegations, tonight they amended the complaint to withdraw them only to add more baseless allegations.”
UMG ended its statement with a warning: “Two weeks ago, his representatives celebrated a ‘win’: the granting of a routine discovery motion. That ‘win’ will become a loss if this frivolous and reckless lawsuit is not dropped in its entirety because Drake will personally be subject to discovery as well. As the old saying goes, ‘be careful what you wish for.’”
