Drake‘s lawsuit against Universal Music Group over the Kendrick Lamar song “Not Like Us” has been dismissed by the judge.
U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas ruled that the diss track did not defame Drake.
Back in November 2024, Drake filed a petition in New York alleging his record label UMG and Spotify inflated “Not Like Us” streams, and that they “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves” with “Not Like Us,” using bots and pay-for-play agreements. The petition accused UMG of licensing “Not Like Us” to Spotify at a 30% discount in return for boosting recommendations of the track. A spokesperson for UMG calls the allegation “offensive and untrue.”
The next day, Drake filed a second petition against UMG, this one being for defamation.
The rapper says the label knowingly released the track while “falsely accusing him of being a sex offender,” painting him as a “certified pedophile,” a “predator” and a person who should be “registered and placed on neighborhood watch.”
Well, the lawsuit has now been dismissed.
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“A reasonable listener could not have concluded that ‘Not Like Us’ was conveying objective facts about Drake,” the judge wrote in her opinion.
A rep for UMG told THR, “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.”
Here’s a full timeline of the feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.