Universal Music Group (UMG) has responded to Drake’s lawsuit against them for defamation over Kendrick Lamar‘s diss track ‘Not Like Us‘ – where Drake and his peers were described as “certified paedophiles” who should “be registered and placed on neighbourhood watch”.
READ MORE: Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s feud: the full timeline
The lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court yesterday (January 15), called the release and promotion of the track, where Lamar alleged Drake “likes ‘em young”, an example of valuing “corporate greed over the safety and wellbeing of its artists”.
However, the label has pushed back against the claims in a statement to PEOPLE Magazine: “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,” a UMG spokesperson said.
“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,” it continues.
“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.”
Drake. CREDIT: Mark Blinch/Getty Images
The statement concludes: “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 a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more than write a song.”
The suit also draws attention to the artwork for ‘Not Like Us’, which features a picture of Drake’s Toronto house with markers used to identify the homes of registered sex offenders. It then mentions a shooting which occurred outside the rapper’s house two days after the track was released, calling it “the 2024 equivalent of ‘Pizzagate’”.
There are reports that the rapper met with Spotify and Universal representatives yesterday (January 14) to discuss the case. The BBC reported that Spotify – which had filed an opposition – had no objections, and Universal, which hadn’t filed an opposition, reserved its position.
Lawyer Michael J Gottlieb is representing Drake in this case. Gottlieb has previously represented the owner of a Washington DC pizzeria targeted by “Pizzagate” conspiracy theorists in 2016, and election workers falsely accused by Rudy Giuliani of aiding a fictional plot during the 2020 US presidential election to sway the vote towards Joe Biden.
Drake first pursued a legal case last November alleging that UMG and Spotify had “artificially inflated” the number of listens on the track. It was dropped yesterday, just less than a day before the new lawsuit was revealed.
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