A federal choose has thrown out Drake’s defamation lawsuit in opposition to Common Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s diss observe “Not Like Us.”
Drake sued his personal label UMG earlier this 12 months, accusing it of getting “authorised, printed, and launched a marketing campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap observe” that was “supposed to convey the particular, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a prison pedophile, and to counsel that the general public ought to resort to vigilante justice in response.” The lawsuit was filed on January fifteenth after Drake dropped a pre-file claim in opposition to Common and Spotify, alleging that the 2 firms labored collectively to artificially increase the track’s streams.
“Not Like Us” was launched on Might 4th, 2024, by way of Kendrick’s personal PGLang and distributed by way of Common Music Group subsidiary Interscope Information. It was the penultimate track in a collection of back-and-forth diss tracks between Kendrick and Drake. All through the track, Lamar describes Drake and a few of his associates as “licensed pedophiles” who must be “registered and positioned on neighborhood watch.”
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In her opinion issued Thursday, Decide Jeannette Vargas dominated {that a} “confrontation” throughout a “heated rap battle” didn’t violate the legislation. Vargas wrote that “even statements which might be offensive or insulting will not be defamatory when an inexpensive listener would perceive them as opinion, parody, or creative expression fairly than truth.” She added that “throughout the cultural context of a rap battle — particularly one among this magnitude — the typical listener doesn’t fairly imagine the lyrics to be literal accusations of prison conduct.”
In doing so, Vargas agreed with Common’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed again in March, during which the label argued Drake turned to the courts after “[losing] a rap battle that he provoked.” UMG additionally contended that the “Not Like Us” lyrics are protected by the First Modification.
Drake’s attorneys rejected UMG’s argument, alleging the track led “millions of people” to imagine their shopper is a pedophile. “UMG additionally ignores [the lawsuit’s claim] that the statements in query (and surrounding context) implied that the allegations had been primarily based on undisclosed proof and the viewers understood as a lot,” they added.
In an amended complaint filed in April, Drake additional claimed that Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show performance of “Not Like Us” was “orchestrated to assassinate” his character and “duped” tens of millions of recent listeners into believing the allegations.
Extra not too long ago, it was revealed in August that Drake sought documents associated to “allegations of home violence” in opposition to Kendrick. Drake’s staff additionally requested communications between the rapper and TDE label boss Dave Free relating to Lamar’s kids, to substantiate Drake’s personal allegations from the 2024 track “Household Issues.”
Following Decide Vargas’ ruling, Drake’s attorneys introduced that they might be interesting.
