Universal Music Group (UMG), the record label of rapper Drake, has filed a motion to dismiss his amended lawsuit regarding Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us.
In the lawsuit, Drake accused UMG of defamation for promoting the track, which accuses him of being a paedophile.
The amended complaint in April included new events that Drake claimed further damaged his reputation, such as Lamar performing the song at the Super Bowl and it being played at the 2025 Grammys.
UMG’s lawyers called Drake’s new allegations “astonishing” in their motion to dismiss, noting that Lamar did not use the phrase “certified paedophile” during his Super Bowl performance.
“The focus of Drake’s new claims – that ‘the largest audience for a Super Bowl halftime show ever’ did not hear Lamar call Drake or his crew pedophiles – betrays this case for what it is: Drake’s attack on the commercial and creative success of the rap artist who defeated him, rather than the content of Lamar’s lyrics,” their motion reads, reports Variety.
In a statement to the publication, a UMG spokesperson argued that it was Drake who started the exchange of diss tracks with Lamar last year.
“Nowhere in the hundred-plus page ‘legal’ blather written by Drake’s lawyers do they bother to acknowledge that Drake himself has written and performed massively successful songs containing equally provocative taunts against other artists,” they stated. “Apparently, Drake’s lawyers believe that when Drake willingly participates in a performative rap-battle of music and poetry, he can be ‘defamed’ even though he engages in the exact same form of creative expression.”
Both musicians are signed to record labels owned by UMG.
