Drake Files Defamation Lawsuit Against UMG Over Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy and Super Bowl Performances

Canadian rapper Aubrey “Drake” Graham has filed a defamation lawsuit against (UMG), alleging that the company knowingly promoted false and damaging claims against him through Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.” The lawsuit, initially filed in January 2025 and amended on April 16, 2025, centers on the track’s promotion during two major events: the 2025 Grammy Awards and the Super Bowl LIX halftime show. 

The legal action stems from an ongoing feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, two of hip-hop’s biggest stars, which intensified in 2024 with a series of diss tracks. Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” released in May 2024, became a cultural phenomenon, topping charts and fueling debates with its provocative lyrics. The song includes allegations that Drake is a “certified pedophile."

And other derogatory claims, which Drake vehemently denies. While the track was a commercial success, Drake argues that its promotion by UMG, the parent company of both his label (Republic Records) and Lamar’s (Interscope Records), crossed legal and ethical lines.

Drake’s lawsuit does not name Lamar as a defendant, instead targeting UMG for allegedly orchestrating a campaign to amplify the song’s defamatory content. The amended complaint filed in April 2025 specifically highlights two globally televised events where the song was prominently featured, claiming that UMG’s actions caused irreparable harm to Drake’s reputation and personal safety.

The Annual Grammy Awards became a flashpoint in the dispute. “Not Like Us” won five awards, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year, cementing its place as a defining moment in Lamar’s career. Although Lamar did not perform the song during the ceremony, snippets of it were played multiple times when his wins were announced. According to Drake’s legal team, these snippets, broadcast to an estimated 15.4 million viewers, included controversial lyrics that prompted the audience to sing along, further spreading the allegedly false claims.

Drake’s lawsuit contends that UMG, as the rights holder, was required to approve the use of the song in the Grammy broadcast. By allowing these snippets to air, the company “knowingly participated in the dissemination of defamatory content,” the complaint argues. The filing describes the Grammy moment as a deliberate act to “humiliate and harm” Drake, leveraging the awards’ global platform to perpetuate a narrative that portrays him as a sexual predator.

The second major event cited in the lawsuit is Kendrick Lamar’s performance at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show on February 9, 2025, in New Orleans. Lamar, the first rapper to headline the event solo, delivered a 13-minute set that drew a record-breaking 133.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show in history. 

A centerpiece of the performance was “Not Like Us,” during which Lamar omitted the word “pedophile” from the lyric “certified pedophile” but included other lines, such as “Say, Drake, I hear you like ‘em young” and “tryna strike a chord, and it’s probably A minor.”

These lyrics, particularly the latter, went viral, with a moment where Lamar stared directly into the camera becoming a widely shared meme. Drake’s legal team seized on the omission of “pedophile” as evidence that “nearly everyone understands that it is defamatory,” arguing that the performance was “orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist.” The complaint claims that exposing the song to such a massive audience, including “millions of children,” introduced the defamatory content to new listeners and amplified its harmful impact.