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Drake is facing a court-ordered deposition in connection with the XXXTentacion murder trial.
Defense attorney Mauricio Padilla alleges that Aubrey Graham (Drake) has more information about the killing. Padilla attempted to subpoena Drake for the deposition at the end of January, but says the rapper didn’t show up. Padilla then petitioned the court to order Drake to appear, which was granted on February 9.
“If deponent Aubrey Drake Graham does not appear to deposition he must appear before this court on Monday, February 27, 2023 so the court can determine why he should not be held in contempt,” the document reads. Drake must sit for the deposition by February 24, or he will be required to appear in court.
Padilla references social media posts and an alleged feud between the two musicians as cause for the deposition. In February 2018, XXXTentacion wrote on Instagram, “If anyone ties to kill me it was @champagnepapi. I’m snitching right now.” Champagnepapi is Drake’s Instagram handle. The post was deleted a few hours later with a new addition. “Please stop entertaining that bullshit on Twitter. My accounts were previously hacked.”
Padilla alleged during his open arguments that detectives did not consider the social media posts. He alleges the feud between XXXTentacion and Drake started in 2017. A friend of XXXTentacion told him Drake liked his music and was interested in meeting and helping him while he was in jail. After Drake dropped “KMT” in March 2017, XXXTentacion began to believe that Drake stole his song.
“The cadence of the rap style and rhythm of the song is by all standards extremely similar and have caused many to believe that [Drake] did in fact steal important aspects of the song from [XXXTentacion],” Padilla said in his opening arguments. Once he was released from jail, XXXTentacion escalated the beef and began posting trolls on social media—which included the ‘if anybody tries to kill me’ post.
The filing further alleges that Drake has close ties to people with gang affiliations, including Hassan Ali. He once claimed on DJ Akademiks’ podcast that he is “Drake’s shooter.” It also includes quotes from XXXTentacion’s mother during her deposition. She confirmed the rapper was feuding with Drake and Migos.