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Drake's Label Files Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Kendrick Lamar's Diss Track
Universal Music Group has once again filed a motion to dismiss Drake's defamation lawsuit against them.
Universal Music Group (UMG) has filed a motion to dismiss Drake’s amended lawsuit for defamation in the high-profile feud sparked by Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us.
Drake originally filed his defamation lawsuit in January, accusing UMG of intentionally promoting Lamar’s track, which he claimed contained defamatory material. The initial lawsuit alleged that UMG engaged in a smear campaign by supporting the song and pushing its exposure. UMG responded with a motion to dismiss in March, calling the claims baseless.
In April, Drake’s legal team refiled the complaint, this time focusing on new events such as Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance and the song’s inclusion in the 2025 Grammy Awards. The amended filing argued that UMG promoted the track despite being aware of its controversial content.
However, UMG’s latest motion, submitted on Wednesday, maintains much of its original argument while targeting the fresh claims in Drake’s updated complaint. “Drake filed an amended complaint where he removed obviously false factual allegations,” UMG’s counsel wrote. “The new allegations are astonishing.”
UMG’s attorneys pointed out that Lamar’s Super Bowl performance did not include the line that allegedly defamed Drake, specifically, the lyric referring to Drake and his associates as “certified pedophiles.” They argued that this omission undermines the entire defamation claim.
In a statement to Variety, a UMG spokesperson criticized Drake’s legal tactics, stating, “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. Nor do they mention that it was Drake who started this particular exchange.”
The 33-page court document further claims Drake is attempting to justify his lawsuit by “cherry-picking” anonymous online comments to argue that the public viewed Lamar’s lyrics as factual rather than artistic hyperbole. UMG dismissed this approach as unreliable and irrelevant, stating that courts routinely reject legal arguments based on such comments.
Additionally, the label noted that Drake had previously withdrawn false allegations that UMG used bots to inflate Not Like Us streams. The amended complaint now references other unverified sources, including a podcast host and deleted posts from X (formerly Twitter), suggesting that Lamar used bots to promote the track.
“Drake’s lawyers can also keep seeking to ‘uncover’ evidence of wild conspiracies,” UMG’s statement continued, “But there is nothing to uncover… Our continuing partnership with Drake and his enduring success is a shining example.”
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