Whew! Drake is coming in hot, making it crystal clear that he’s not about to let anything slide without a fight… Now, just a day after he dropped a bombshell in New York, alleging that UMG illegally boosted Kendrick Lamar’s track “Not Like Us” with shady payments to Spotify, Drake’s camp is back at it in Texas. This time, they’re throwing some serious shade at radio behemoth iHeartRadio as well.
In this latest legal saga, Drake is accusing UMG of defamation, claiming they could’ve put the brakes on the release of a track that “falsely accusing him of being a sex offender.”
“UMG … could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed,” Drake’s lawyers assert. “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.”
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It’s worth noting that this petition isn’t exactly a lawsuit yet… It’s more of a pre-action filing aimed at gathering depositions from key players at UMG and iHeartRadio. Essentially, Drake’s team is looking to dig up dirt to back up their claims for a potential future lawsuit. But don’t sleep on it—his lawyers believe they’ve already got enough ammo to move forward.
Kendrick Lamar, interestingly enough, isn’t named in this filing and isn’t being accused of any wrongdoing.
As for UMG and iHeartRadio? They’ve been pretty quiet on this latest round of accusations. However, Universal Music Group did respond to the earlier filing with a statement to Billboard, defending their integrity.
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” the company stated. “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.”
With all this drama unfolding, it’s clear that Drake is ready to take a stand and fight back.