Drake’s Lawsuit Against Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ Dismissed by Judge

A federal judge on Thursday (Oct. 9) dismissed Drake’s defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” ruling that a “war of words” during a “heated rap battle” did not violate the law and that part of the case was “logically incoherent.”

Drake’s suit, filed earlier this year, claimed that UMG defamed him by publishing Lamar’s scathing speech, which called his main rival a “certified pedophile.” He believed that millions of people took his words literally, which seriously damaged his reputation.

But just ten months later, Judge Jeannette Vargas granted UMG’s motion to dismiss the case altogether — ruling that Kendrick’s insulting words were the kind of “hyperbole” that cannot be defamatory because listeners would not think they were statements of fact.

“The seven-track battle between the artists was a ‘war of words’ that was the subject of intense media scrutiny and online discourse,” the judge wrote. “While the accusation that the plaintiff is a pedophile is certainly serious, the broader context of a heated rap battle, with inflammatory remarks and offensive accusations thrown by both participants, would not lead the reasonable listener to believe that ‘Not Like Us’ communicates verifiable facts about the plaintiff.”

The ruling marks the abrupt end to a legal battle that stunned the music industry. Few expected a rapper to respond to a diss track with legal action – a move that drew ridicule from the hip hop world and condemnation from legal experts. Fewer still expected him to file a lawsuit against UMG, his longtime label and the world’s largest music company.

Drake’s lawyers can appeal the decision to a federal appeals court. His lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement to Billboarda UMG spokesperson said: “From the beginning, this lawsuit was an affront to all artists and their creative expression and should never have seen the light of day. We are pleased with the court’s dismissal and look forward to continuing our successful work to promote Drake’s music and invest in his career.”

Lamar released “Not Like Us” last May amid a war of words with Drake that saw the two UMG stars release a series of bruising diss tracks. The song, a punchline that called Drake a “certified pedophile” over an infectious beat, became a hit in its own right and won five Grammy Awards, including record and song of the year.

In January, Drake took the unusual step of suing UMG, claiming his own label defamed him by boosting the track’s popularity, including using bots and other harmful marketing tactics. The lawsuit, which does not name Lamar himself as a defendant, alleges that UMG “led a campaign” against its own artist to spread a “malicious narrative” about pedophilia that it knew to be false.

UMG argued that these allegations were clearly without merit – that “hyperbolic insults” and “vitriolic allegations” are commonplace in dissent tracks and cannot form the basis of a defamation suit. The company pointed out that Drake himself was happy to launch such attacks, including accusing Lamar of domestic violence, until he lost the battle.

The argument became even more heated in February, when Lamar made “Not Like Us” the centerpiece of his Super Bowl halftime show. After speculating about whether he would perform the track, Kendrick used the show to mock his rival, looking directly into the camera as he rapped “Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young.”

In her ruling Thursday, Judge Vargas sided entirely with UMG, ruling that normal listeners would not expect “accurate factual reporting” from a dissident piece “filled with profanity, trash talk, threats of violence, and figurative and hyperbolic language.”

She pointed out that Drake himself had used similar language, citing a line from “Family Matters” in which the star “strongly implied that Lamar is a domestic abuser” and another in which Drake said he had heard that “one of Lamar’s sons may not be biologically his.”

“The recording was released as part of a heated public feud, during which both participants exchanged increasingly caustic and inflammatory insults and accusations,” Judge Vargas wrote. “This is precisely the type of context in which an audience may expect the use of epithets, fiery rhetoric or hyperbole rather than factual assertions. »

The judge also rejected Drake’s arguments regarding the popularity of “Not Like Us,” saying she couldn’t do this kind of “retroactive analysis” of artistic expression. She wrote that when Kendrick wrote her song, he “couldn’t have known” that it would later break streaming records, win Grammys or be the centerpiece of a Super Bowl halftime show.

“Yet Plaintiff would ask the court to separate the recording from the context in which it was created due to these subsequent events,” Judge Vargas wrote. “Whether the posts constitute an actionable fact or a protected opinion cannot vary depending on how popular they obtain. Constitutional guarantees do not rest on such a flimsy basis.”

The judge was also unimpressed by Drake’s claim that the song became defamatory because UMG repeatedly re-released it and led to its success: “This argument is logically incoherent,” the judge wrote. “If the recording was an inadmissible opinion at the time it was initially produced, then
a republication would not expose UMG to liability.

For the story of Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s feud, read on Wild boarthe chronology of d.