Like Phineas and Ferb’s Dr. Doofenshmirtz, watching from his evil lair, Champagne Papi wasn’t about to let Kendrick Lamar have the last laugh with “Not Like Us.” On November 25, Drake filed a “pre-action petition” (aka the legal equivalent of preparing for war) against UMG (his record label) and Spotify, which he’s since withdrawn, but the battle doesn’t stop there.
Taking his frustrations over “Not Like Us” to “defamation” heights, Drake has a bone to pick with Universal Music Group, detailing the damages he suffered from the song’s release and why he’s not coming for the artist who created it.
The new legal documents shed light on the 2024 break-ins on his Toronto property, revealing previously unknown details that have made shocking headlines on timelines. Below, find out everything you need to know about the litigation war.
What happened before the defamation lawsuit?
Via his company Frozen Moments LLC, Drizzy alleged that UMG launched a sneaky campaign to make “Not Like Us” go viral—using bots and pay-to-play schemes to flood the airwaves. According to his lawyers, UMG allegedly slashed Spotify’s usual licensing rates by 30% in exchange for hyping up Kendrick’s track to unsuspecting listeners.
The rapper didn’t stop there. He filed a second petition against UMG in Texas on November 26. The new filing claimed that “UMG potentially ‘funneled payments’ to iHeart as part of a ‘pay-to-play scheme’ to promote the song on radio” and that “UMG knew that Kendrick’s song ‘falsely’ accused him of being a ‘certified pedophile’ and ‘predator’ but chose to release it anyway.”
Like Michael Jordan in The Last Dance, Drake took UMG’s involvement with “Not Like Us” personally because he’s been with the record company since the beginning of his career. He first signed a deal in 2009 with Lil Wayne’s Young Money, distributed by Republic Records (a division of UMG), and then directly signed ” a LeBron-sized deal” with Republic Records in 2022.
Why is Drake suing UMG for defamation?
On January 14, Frozen Moments LLC strolled into a Manhattan court to officially pull the plug on their petition against UMG and Spotify (though the Texas petition with UMG and iHeartRadio is still pending). The court docs reveal that “Drake met with representatives on Tuesday and Spotify, which had filed an opposition, had no objection to the withdrawal and discontinuance, while UMG, which had not filed an opposition, reserved its position.”
Translation: Spotify’s like, “Yeah, we’re good. Let’s wrap this up,” while UMG is nowhere near done.
Drake is taking his legal action against UMG to the federal level. The 81-page defamation and harassment lawsuit starts (in true petty Drake fashion) with a quote from Sir Lucian Grainge, UMG’s CEO.
Drake’s team claims that Universal “‘approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track’ that 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.” Yikes.
Instead of blasting K. Dot for creating the song, Drake threw UMG over the coals. His team’s argument? “This lawsuit is not about the artist who created ‘Not Like Us…’ It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false but dangerous.”
What damages does the lawsuit detail?
He alleges that the release of the song incited violence and “the 2024 equivalent of Pizzagate (AKA the bizarre conspiracy theory that claimed a D.C. pizzeria was running a secret child trafficking ring).” On May 7, “an armed group of assailants” drove up to Drake’s property, and after someone yelled “Fuck Drake,” at least one shooter opened fire, according to the suit.
While one bullet hit the security gate, another bullet struck and wounded one of the security guards (who was also a friend of Drizzy’s). “Blood was everywhere,” as Drake and others put pressure on the wound as they waited “thirty minutes” for emergency services to arrive. It took days for the security guard’s condition to stabilize; luckily, he survived.
Unfortunately, the chaos at the property didn’t stop there. A trespasser attempted to enter the property the next day, using their bare hands to dig a hole under the security fence surrounding the home.
Thankfully, security caught them before they hurt anyone, but they made sure to yell plenty of “racist slurs and threats against Drake” before being kicked out. On top of that, another intruder tried (and failed) to breach the property on May 9.
Due to the multiple security breaches and threats against him, Drizzy withdrew his son from school and alleged significant financial harm. He also claims UMG ignored his attempts to resolve things privately, hoping to pressure him into signing a new, more favorable deal. The suit emphasizes that Drake has never been charged with or convicted of any crimes.
The company had plenty to say about the new defamation lawsuit, stating that they “…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 … “We have not and do not engage in defamation — against any individual …”
While the attacks against Drake & Co. were no laughing matter, his lawsuit didn’t garner much sympathy online. Then again, it’s been a tough week for Americans, who are mourning the loss of TikTok. How could they feel bad for a Canadian?
