Drake has lost his defamation suit against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s diss track ‘Not Like Us’.
- READ MORE: Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s feud: the full timeline
In a ruling published Thursday (October 9), a federal judge ruled that the allegedly defamatory statements made in the hit song – among them that Drake was a “certified paedophile” (Drake has continually denied any wrongdoing) – qualified as “nonactionable opinion.”
Judge Jeannette A. Vargas said: “The issue in this case is whether ‘Not Like Us’ can reasonably be understood to convey as a factual matter that Drake is a pedophile or that he has engaged in sexual relations with minors. In light of the overall context in which the statements in the Recording were made, the Court holds that it cannot.”
“From the outset, this suit was an affront to all artists and their creative expression and never should have seen the light of day,” a UMG spokesperson told Rolling Stone. “We’re pleased with the court’s dismissal and look forward to continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Drake told NME: “We intend to appeal today’s ruling, and we look forward to the Court of Appeals reviewing it.”
The legal battle began last year, when the ‘Hotline Bling’ hitmaker filed a dispute against Universal Music Group in New York, alleging that the publisher and label had “artificially inflated” streams for ‘Not Like Us’, among other allegations.
In the filing – which can be viewed here – Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC accused UMG and Spotify of “illegally” aiding and boosting ‘Not Like Us’ streams in favour of Lamar – who entered a viral rap feud with Drake last year.
The, back in March, UMG filed a motion to dismiss the Canadian rapper’s suit, stating that he had sued the corporation because he “lost a rap battle”. They went on to say that “instead of accepting the loss like the unbothered rap artist he often claims to be”, Drake had “sued his own record label in a misguided attempt to salve his wounds”.
Drake’s team later hit back at UMG’s central argument: that most listeners wouldn’t take “outrageous insults”, which are naturally par for the course in diss tracks, as fact.
Per Billboard, the ‘Legend’ rapper’s lawyers say that line of argument is “doomed to fail” because people had taken Lamar’s words seriously.
“UMG completely ignores the complaint’s allegations that millions of people, all over the world, did understand the defamatory material as a factual assertion that plaintiff is a pedophile,” his attorneys wrote.
Indeed, Lamar played the biggest 13-minute gig in music when he headlined the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show back in February. Boasting guest appearances from SZA, Serena Williams and Samuel L. Jackson, it was later named the most-watched Super Bowl performance in history, and saw a performance of the contentious track.
