Drake lawsuit towards UMG over Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ dismissed by US courtroom
A US federal courtroom has dismissed Drake’s defamation lawsuit towards Common Music Group, ruling that Kendrick Lamar’s diss observe Not Like Us constitutes protected opinion slightly than actionable defamation.
Choose Jeannette Vargas of the Southern District of New York granted UMG’s movement to dismiss all claims on Thursday (October 9), discovering that accusations made about Drake within the tune’s lyrics can’t fairly be interpreted as statements of reality, given the context of the artists’ heated rap battle.
A spokesperson for Common Music Group instructed MBW: “From the outset, this swimsuit was an affront to all artists and their artistic expression and by no means ought to have seen the sunshine of day.
“We’re happy with the courtroom’s dismissal and stay up for persevering with our work efficiently selling Drake’s music and investing in his profession.”
Not Like Us, launched Could 4, 2024, was the penultimate observe in what the courtroom known as “maybe probably the most notorious rap battle within the style’s historical past.” Over 16 days, Drake and Lamar launched eight diss tracks with more and more inflammatory rhetoric.
“From the outset, this swimsuit was an affront to all artists and their artistic expression and by no means ought to have seen the sunshine of day.”
Common Music Group
The tune achieved large industrial success, with over 1.4 billion streams on Spotify, profitable Report of the 12 months on the Grammys, and being carried out throughout the 2025 Tremendous Bowl Halftime Present to 133.5 million viewers.
Drake’s lawsuit, filed in January 2025, alleged that UMG “deliberately printed and promoted” the tune “whereas understanding that the tune’s insinuations that he has sexual relations with minors had been false and defamatory.”
Each Drake and Lamar launch their information by way of UMG and its Republic Data and Interscope, respectively.
In her 38-page opinion, which you’ll learn in full right here, Choose Vargas emphasised that the broader context of the rap battle was important to understanding how an inexpensive listener would interpret the lyrics.
The courtroom rejected Drake’s arguments that the tune ought to be assessed in isolation from the opposite diss tracks, discovering that “the songs launched throughout this rap battle are in dialogue with each other” and “should be learn collectively to completely assess how the overall viewers would understand the statements.”
Drake additionally introduced claims for harassment and violations of New York Common Enterprise Regulation Part 349, alleging UMG engaged in misleading practices together with utilizing bots and payola to artificially inflate the tune’s recognition.
The courtroom dismissed these claims as nicely, discovering no personal proper of motion for harassment and inadequate proof of client hurt.
A spokesperson for Drake mentioned: “We intend to attraction right this moment’s ruling, and we stay up for the Court docket of Appeals reviewing it.”
Music Enterprise Worldwide
