Universal Music Group responds to Drake's lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar's diss track that 'tags him a p3dophile'
Universal Music Group has hit back after Drake sued the record label for releasing and promoting his rival Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us.
The Canadian rapper, 38, has alleged that Universal Music Group—which he has been on board with since 2009—”approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track that falsely accuses Drake of being a pedophile and calls for violent retribution against him,” People Magazine reported.
Drake also pointed out that the May 2024 song’s cover photo also features his Toronto home with labels similar to those used by law enforcement to pinpoint sex offenders. He alleged that the music label “decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false but dangerous.”
Shortly after Drake’s filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, a spokesperson for the record label released a statement, rubbishing the rapper’s claims as “illogical.”
“Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist—let alone Drake—is illogical. We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success,” the UMG rep told People Magazine.
The record label called out Drake for resorting to similar methods that he is accusing them and Lamar, 37, of.
“Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists. He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.”
They continued, “We have not and do not engage in defamation — against any individual. At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more than write a song.”
UMG also addressed the rapper’s earlier claims that the record label launched a “campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves” with Lamar’s song and wanted “to make that song go viral, including by using “bots” and pay-to-play agreements,” per Drake’s earlier court docs filed in a Manhattan court in November.
“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.”
They added, “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.”
It is pertinent to mention that a day before Drake’s recent legal move, his attorney Michael J. Gottlieb filed a petition to withdraw the above legal action to move forward with a federal suit instead.
