Get the latest gossip

‘Drake lost a rap battle’: Universal files motion to dismiss rapper’s ‘misguided’ lawsuit

Drake’s attorneys accuse Universal of being ‘a greedy company’ that is ‘finally being held responsible for profiting from dangerous misinformation’.

Universal Music Group have moved to dismiss Drake’s defamation suit, characterising it as “a misguided attempt” by the Canadian rapper to “salve his wounds” after he “lost a rap battle” with rival Kendrick Lamar. In its motion to dismiss, Universal argue that Drake fails to make a claim for defamation, saying that Not Like Us “conveys nonactionable opinion and rhetorical hyperbole, not fact,” and noting that the rapper has relied on UMG to promote his own diss tracks against Lamar and others. In a statement provided to Variety, Drake’s attorney Michael J. Gottlieb responded to Universal’s motion to dismiss, saying: “UMG wants to pretend that this is about a rap battle in order to distract its shareholders, artists and the public from a simple truth: a greedy company is finally being held responsible for profiting from dangerous misinformation that has already resulted in multiple acts of violence.

Get the Android app