Drake is now arguing that Kendrick Lamar‘s performance at the Super Bowl is evidence that he was defamed by Universal Music Group.
In an amendment to his lawsuit against his own record label on Wednesday (April 16), the 6 God expanded his complaint to include events that have occurred since he originally filed the suit in January.
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The filing singles out Kendrick’s record-breaking Super Bowl LIX halftime show, noting that the event exposed his diss song “Not Like Us” to “millions of children” who had “never before heard the song or any of the songs that preceded it. It was the first, and will hopefully be the last, Super Bowl halftime show orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist.”
The amendment also points to the fact that the Compton rapper self-censored the word “pedophile” while performing the track, using it as further proof of Drake’s defamation claims.
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Kendrick’s historic Grammys wins for “Not Like Us” is also mentioned, along with how the diss song was played during the telecast to an audience of 15 million people, which Drake claims could not have happened without UMG’s consent.
Drizzy’s initial lawsuit also alleged that UMG had employed the use of bots to artificially increase the streaming numbers of “Not Like Us” during their beef.
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These accusations were based off the unverified testimony of an unknown person featured in an Akademiks livestream.
In his amendment, Drake somewhat backed down on these claims, removing references to the stream and instead saying: “UMG was aware that third parties were using bots to stream the recording and turned a blind eye, despite having the power to stop such behavior.”
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Drake’s legal team said of the new filing: “Drake’s amended complaint makes an already strong case stronger. UMG’s PR ‘spin’ and failed efforts to avoid discovery cannot suppress the facts and the truth.
“With discovery now moving forward, Drake will expose the evidence of UMG’s misconduct, and UMG will be held accountable for the consequences of its ill-conceived decisions.”
UMG also issued a lengthy response to the accusations, saying: “Drake, unquestionably one of the world’s most accomplished artists and with whom we’ve enjoyed at 16-year successful relationship, is being misled by his legal representatives into taking one absurd legal step after another.”
The music giant also claimed that Drake and his legal team have “quietly dropped” their separate pre-action petition against UMG in Texas.
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“In Texas last November, his counsel instituted a legal proceeding with much fanfare and bluster. On Monday, they quietly dropped the case,” they said.
“In New York in January, Drake’s counsel filed a defamation lawsuit. Fearful of being sanctioned by the court for asserting false allegations, tonight they amended the complaint to withdraw them only to add more baseless allegations.”
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UMG’s statement went on to warn the Canadian superstar: “Two weeks ago, his representatives celebrated a ‘win’: the granting of a routine discovery motion. That ‘win’ will become a loss if this frivolous and reckless lawsuit is not dropped in its entirety because Drake will personally be subject to discovery as well.
“As the old saying goes, ‘be careful what you wish for.’”
