Drake has filed a second legal petition against Universal Music Group (UMG), this time claiming that the company should have prevented the release of Kendrick Lamar's track “Not Like Us” because it is defamatory. Bulletin board exhibitions. Drake claims, through lawyers, that the song damages his reputation by “falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophile acts, harboring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts.” The Bexar County, Texas, filing also accuses UMG of funneling iHeartRadio payments into a pay-to-play advertising program.
The new filing follows a separate New York filing alleging that UMG and Spotify conspired to illegally boost the track's streams using bots, unknown payments and biased recommendations. No action constitutes a lawsuit. Rather, they are “pre-action depositions” designed to obtain information to support Drake's claims for future litigation.
In response to the first filing, a spokesperson for Universal Music Group denied Drake's claims, writing, “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We use the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can hide the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”
“Not Like Us” became an instant hit, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. He also recently helped Kendrick Lamar earn multiple Grammy Award nominations. Lamar continued to crush Drake on his new album, GNX.
As Variety He notes, neither Drake nor Kendrick Lamar are signed directly to Universal Music Group. Instead, Drake is signed to his own OVO and Lamar is signed to pgLang. Drake licenses his music to UMG's Republic for marketing and distribution, while Lamar does the same to UMG's Interscope.
