By Love Wilhelmina Abanonave
Canadian singer and rapper Drake has updated his defamation lawsuit against his record label, Universal Music Group (UMG), claiming the label promoted Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us” to millions of viewers at the Super Bowl and Grammys, damaging his reputation.
The song’s lyrics accuse Drake of being a pedophile, which he denies.
UMG called the lawsuit “an affront to all artists and creative expression,” stating that Drake is being misled by his legal representatives and the suit has “no chance of success.
The lawsuit falls on the back of Drake accusing UMG, the label that represents both Drake and Lamar, of orchestrating a “highly organized publicity campaign” to promote “Not Like Us” at the Super Bowl halftime show in February, which Lamar headlined, in an attempt to “assassinate” Drake’s character.
The lawsuit says the Super Bowl halftime show was watched by 133 million people, including “millions of children” and “millions more who had never before heard the song.”
Drake’s suit says the Super Bowl performance revitalized the song’s popularity, which returned to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and intensified the public’s belief Drake is a pedophile (which he denies), citing social media posts including a viral meme of Lamar smiling into the camera while rapping the lyric: “Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young.”
