Drake expanded his defamation lawsuit in opposition to Common Music Group, saying extra individuals had been duped into believing he was a pedophile after rapper Kendrick Lamar carried out Not Like Us in the course of the Tremendous Bowl halftime present and on the Grammy Awards.
In an amended grievance filed late Wednesday evening in opposition to his file label, Drake mentioned the performances launched tens of millions of recent listeners to Lamar’s smash hit, and have led to extra threats in opposition to the Canadian rapper and his household.
Drake mentioned this occurred although Lamar omitted the phrase “pedophile” from his Tremendous Bowl efficiency, seen by greater than 133 million individuals, ostensibly as a result of “practically everybody understands” it was defamatory.
“It was the primary, and can hopefully be the final, Tremendous Bowl halftime present orchestrated to assassinate the character of one other artist,” Drake mentioned within the lawsuit.
Not Like Us additionally contains the lyric “Drake, I hear you want ’em younger,” which Lamar sang on the Tremendous Bowl.
In an announcement on Thursday, UMG known as Drake’s accusations baseless and his lawsuit an affront to artistic expression.
“Drake, unquestionably one of many world’s most achieved artists and with whom we have loved a 16-year profitable relationship, is being misled by his authorized representatives into taking one absurd authorized step after one other,” UMG mentioned.
Allegation UMG boosted Lamar’s music
UMG had sought to dismiss Drake’s authentic lawsuit, filed on Jan. 15 in Manhattan federal courtroom, and can have an opportunity to dismiss the amended lawsuit.
Drake is searching for unspecified damages, alleging UMG tried to spice up its revenue and make him a pariah by selling Lamar. Within the amended lawsuit, he alleges that UMG “made important monetary investments and leveraged its skilled connections” to rearrange particularly for Not Like Us to be carried out on the Tremendous Bowl.
He additionally alleged that the Tremendous Bowl efficiency launched the tune to “tens of millions extra who had by no means [sic] earlier than heard the tune or any [sic] of the songs that preceded it.”
“UMG will likely be held accountable for the implications of its ill-conceived selections,” Drake’s lawyer Michael Gottlieb mentioned in an announcement.
Drake and Lamar have feuded for a couple of decade, together with by way of a collection of competing diss tracks.
Not Like Us was launched final Might 4, in the future after Drake’s Household Issues appeared to accuse Lamar of bodily abuse and infidelity and questioned the parentage of one in every of his kids.
Lamar’s tune received Grammy Awards for file and tune of the 12 months, and topped Billboard’s Scorching 100 for 3 weeks.
Drake’s given title is Aubrey Drake Graham. Lamar, an American, received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
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