The lawsuit filed by Drake against Universal Music Group was amended Wednesday (April 16) to include a new complaint, specifically that the music label used Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy wins and his Super Bowl halftime show performance of “Not Like Us” to promote the single and damage his reputation further. The new addition makes the suit 107 pages in total to account for new allegations.
The new complaint states that the halftime performance by Kendrick Lamar, which was seen by 133 million people “including millions of children,” who had “never before heard the song or any of the songs that preceded it. It was the first, and will hopefully be the last, Super Bowl halftime show orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist.” It goes on to allege that Kendrick Lamar purposefully excluded the word “pedophile” from the song, stating that “on information and belief” that he wouldn’t have been able to perform without that exclusion. The suit also claims that UMG caused intentional harm by negotiating the performance and promoting it afterward, as well as citing that the use of a photo of his Toronto home led to a shooting incident days after the release.
The legal team for Drake also claimed that UMG CEO Lucian Grainge hugged and gave a high-five to Dr. Dre as “Not Like Us” played at the Grammy Awards (a YouTube clip of the interaction that was posted doesn’t have the song in the background, however) and that the crowd was singing along to “Not Like Us,” which would win Song and Record of the Year. Another allegation that remains is that bots were used by UMG to push the song on streaming platforms like Spotify. The claim was initially floated by an undisclosed person who appeared on DJ Akademiks’ show to claim he was paid to push the songs by Interscope.
UMG issued a lengthy and bruising response to the amended complaint shortly after, writing in part: “Two weeks ago, his representatives celebrated a ‘win’: the granting of a routine discovery motion. That ‘win’ will become a loss if this frivolous and reckless lawsuit is not dropped in its entirety because Drake will personally be subject to discovery as well. As the old saying goes, ‘be careful what you wish for.’”
