Drake has filed suit against Universal Music Group for defamation, alleging the music giant put its profits over his safety by releasing Kendrick Lamar’s “false and malicious” diss track, “Not Like Us.”
In a Wednesday filing to with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, lawyers for the rapper, real name Aubrey Drake Graham, accused the artist’s longtime label of deliberately allowing Lamar to make “inflammatory and shocking allegations” calling Drake a “certified pedophile,” despite knowing how the claims would threaten his reputation and safety.
The suit asserts that UMG was fully aware that there is no factual basis for claims made in the song and its music video, but the company proceeded to publish and distribute “Not Like Us,” because it “understood” that the salacious nature of the accusations would be a financial “gold mine.”
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“The recording was intended to convey the specific, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response,” Drake’s attorneys claim.
Citing a list of “palpable threat[s] to Drake’s safety” prompted by the release of “Not Like Us” and its music video, the court filings claim UMG put “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists” by distributing and promoting the song.
Among the incidents referenced in the lawsuit are a drive-by shooting at Drake’s Toronto area home and several attempted break-ins which took place just days after the diss track’s release.
“UMG’s greed yielded real world consequences,” the lawsuit contends.
While it is Lamar who aired the allegations, the suit contends that UMG’s decision to knowingly publish the falsehoods in “Not Like Us” make the company responsible for the damage caused by the release of the song and its accompanying video.
“UMG may spin this complaint as a rap beef gone legal, but this lawsuit is not about a war of words between artists,” it claims.
“It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false, but dangerous.”
Drake sent shockwaves through the music industry last November when he filed a pair of “pre-action” petitions designed to secure records and information prior to an official lawsuit being filed.
On Wednesday, his legal team withdrew one of the petitions, which accused UMG and Spotify of a “scheme” to artificially boost streaming numbers for “Not Like Us.”
Drake’s move against the multinational music conglomerate is notable, as UMG has distributed the rapper’s music for his entire career.
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UMG did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.