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Drake's Second Legal Action Against Universal Music Group

2024-11-26

Drake has taken a significant step by launching a second legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG). This move comes in the wake of accusations regarding Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" song, with Drake alleging defamation and claiming that UMG could have prevented the release of a song that falsely accused him of being a sex offender. A day after filing an action in New York against UMG for illegally boosting Lamar's track on Spotify, Drake's company has now leveled similar claims in the Texas court regarding radio giant iHeartRadio. The new filing, made public on Tuesday, alleges that UMG potentially "funneled payments" to iHeart as part of a "pay-to-play scheme" to promote the song on radio.

Key Details of Drake's Grievances

In the filing, Drake's lawyers state that UMG knew that Kendrick's song "falsely" accused him of being a "certified pedophile" and "predator" but still chose to release it. They write, "UMG … could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed. But UMG chose to do the opposite. UMG designed, financed and then executed a plan to turn 'Not Like Us' into a viral mega-hit with the intent of using the spectacle of harm to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, massive revenues. That plan succeeded, likely beyond UMG's wildest expectations."Like the New York filing on Monday, this new petition is not yet a lawsuit but a pre-action filing aimed at taking depositions from key figures at UMG and iHeart to obtain more information that may support Drake's accusations in a future lawsuit. In seeking this information, Drake's lawyers claim to already have enough evidence to pursue a "claim for defamation" against UMG and may also add claims of civil fraud and racketeering based on what they discover from the depositions.UMG and iHeartRadio have not yet responded to requests for comment on the new filing. Lamar is not named as a respondent, and no legal accusations have been made against him.Universal Music Group responded to yesterday's filing with a statement provided to Billboard, saying, "The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear."This new filing in Texas represents another remarkable escalation in the high-profile beef between Drake and Lamar. Earlier this year, they exchanged stinging diss tracks over several months. Such beefs are common in the world of hip-hop, but few expected either side to file legal actions over the insults.It also deepens the rift between Drake and UMG, where he has spent his entire career. First, he signed a deal with Lil Wayne's Young Money imprint distributed by Republic Records and then signed directly to Republic. Lamar, too, has spent his entire career associated with UMG and is currently signed to a licensing deal with Interscope.In Tuesday's new petition, Drake essentially accused the music giant of using illegal means to unfairly prioritize one of its artists over the other. His lawyers write, "Before it approved the release of the song, UMG knew that the song itself, as well as its accompanying album art and music video, attacked the character of another one of UMG's most prominent artists, Drake, by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts, harboring sex offenders and committing other criminal sexual acts."Read Drake's entire legal filing here: