Drake Has Doubled Down On His Legal Dispute With UMG, Accusing The Label Of Defamation In A New Filing

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Drake has doubled down on his current legal dispute with Universal Music Group, accusing the label of defamation in a new filing. According to Billboard, after filing a pre-action petition accusing UMG of promoting Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” through underhanded means, Drake is now accusing his and Kendrick’s shared parent label (Drake licenses his music through Republic, while Kendrick licenses through Interscope, both subsidiaries of UMG) of defamation for not blocking the song’s release, because of the line(s) in which Kendrick accuses Drake of being a pedophile.

In the new filing, Drake’s attorneys (by way of Frozen Moments, LLC) claim 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.”

While Drake has yet to file an actual lawsuit against Universal, these “pre-action” petitions ask the court to order UMG to turn over any records pertaining to the diss and its promotion ahead of any potential lawsuit. A judge will still need to review the paperwork to determine whether or not to grant this petition, although Drake’s legal team claims to have enough evidence to proceed with a lawsuit anyway. UMG has already denied the claims in a response of its own, saying through a representative, “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.”

source https://uproxx.com/music/drake-accuses-umg-of-defamation-in-new-not-like-us-filing/