“A reasonable listener could not have concluded that ‘Not Like Us’ was conveying objective facts about Drake,” she ruled.
In a statement to Billboard following their win, a spokesman for UMG said: “From the outset, this suit was an affront to all artists and their creative expression and never should have seen the light of day. We’re pleased with the court’s dismissal and look forward to continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”
While the company seems excited to put this whole ordeal behind them, Drake’s team also released a statement to BOSSIP, insisting this isn’t over.
“We intend to appeal today’s ruling, and we look forward to the Court of Appeals reviewing it.”
As previously reported, the Canadian rapper’s legal battle grew to encompass more than UMG’s alleged defamation.
Most recently, his team demanded internal documents tied to allegations of domestic violence against Lamar and probing the nature of Dave Free’s relationship with Lamar’s children.
In those filings, Drake’s lawyers sought “All Documents and Communications … relating to allegations of domestic violence … committed by Kendrick Lamar.” They also requested materials on “David Isaac Friley (a/k/a Dave Free) and his relationship with Kendrick Lamar and Kendrick Lamar’s children.”
The requests mirrored lyrics from Lamar’s The Heart Part 6, in which Drake floated suggestions that one of Lamar’s children might not be biologically his, but fathered by Dave Free instead.
Drake also accused UMG of orchestrating a “financial conspiracy” by promoting Lamar’s music at the expense of his brand, making secret payments, and reducing licensing offers to third parties to suppress Drake’s value during contract talks. His team also demanded UMG produce redacted versions of Lamar’s record contract (claiming it was unfairly censored), and documentation involving prior label censorship (citing Pusha T’s “Story of Adidon”) as precedent.
The Degrassi alum initially filed his lawsuit against UMG in January 2025, accusing the music giant of knowingly defaming him. His complaint centered on Kendrick Lamar’s hit diss track, “Not Like Us,” which famously referred to Drake as a “child predator.” Drake alleged that UMG not only distributed this song but also promoted it through “illegal means.”
UMG, for its part, vehemently denied the claims, asserting that the notion they would “seek to harm the reputation of any artist —let alone Drake—is illogical.”
“Plaintiff, one of the most successful recording artists of all time, lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated,” UMG’s lawyers wrote in a filing asking for a dismissal. “Instead of accepting the loss like the unbothered rap artist he often claims to be, he has sued his own record label in a misguided attempt to salve his wounds.”
The defamation suit came after Drake alleged in November 2024 that UMG and Spotify deployed bots to “artificially inflate” the success of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” violating the RICO Act.
