Drake’s lawyers have alleged that Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us” has led “millions of people” to believe their client is a pedophile, in a legal response to Universal Music Group’s motion to dismiss his defamation lawsuit.
As reported by Billboard, Drake’s attorneys filed their motion on Thursday, countering UMG’s argument that Kendrick’s lyrics are protected by the First Amendment due to the “hyperbolic and metaphorical language” common in diss tracks.
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“UMG completely ignores the complaint’s allegations that millions of people, all over the world, did understand the defamatory material as a factual assertion that plaintiff is a pedophile,” his lawyers wrote. “UMG also ignores [the lawsuit’s claim] that the statements in question (and surrounding context) implied that the allegations were based on undisclosed evidence and the audience understood as much.”
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Just a day after claiming Drake resorted to legal action only after “[losing] a rap battle that he provoked,” UMG’s attorneys followed up by asking the judge to halt discovery in the case. They argued that Drake was demanding “highly commercially sensitive documents,” such as Kendrick’s record contract, which would “be rendered moot” if the motion to dismiss were to be granted.
Drake’s lawyers, however, contend the latter motion “does not come close” to demonstrating why the discovery is an “undue burden”: “UMG has not stated how long it expects discovery to take, the costs associated with discovery, or any other indicator that might demonstrate why discovery will be overly burdensome.”
Filed in January, Drake’s lawsuit accuses Universal of having “approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of [‘Not Like Us’]” that 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.”
UMG’s motions to dismiss the suit and halt discovery represent their first legal responses in the case. In a statement, Drake’s lead attorney, Mike Gottlieb, labeled the motion to dismiss as “a desperate ploy to avoid accountability” and pledged to “continue to uncover UMG’s long history of endangering, abusing, and taking advantage of its artists.”
Content shared from consequence.net.