Drake’s ongoing defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) over Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us has taken yet another dramatic turn. His legal team is now using Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show as key evidence of the lasting damage caused by the alleged smear campaign.
In a letter filed on February 24, Drake’s attorney Michael J. Gottlieb fired back at UMG’s claim that the rapper was planning to withdraw key allegations from the lawsuit. Gottlieb firmly denied the accusation calling it a distraction meant to delay the legal process. He emphasized that rather than backing down Drake’s team is doubling down especially in light of Lamar’s highly publicized performance at the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show.
According to the letter, UMG has been actively prolonging the case while continuing to promote Not Like Us a track that according to Drake falsely portrays him as a predator and encourages violence against him.
“At the same time UMG has been delaying here, UMG launched new campaigns to further spread the defamatory content, including at the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show,” Gottlieb stated.
Drake’s team argues that this high-profile performance watched by an estimated 133.5 million viewers served as a public execution of his reputation, making it impossible to ignore the real-world impact of UMG’s alleged involvement. If one of the most-watched events of the year is amplifying a song attacking Drake, they argue, it proves the urgency of the case.
The lawsuit, initially filed in a New York federal court last month accuses UMG of deliberately manipulating Not Like Us’s success for financial and strategic gain. Drake alleges that the label artificially boosted the song’s streams and radio play while simultaneously damaging his public image potentially influencing future contract negotiations in UMG’s favor. His legal team claims that by devaluing Drake’s brand UMG could pressure him into signing a less favorable record deal.
As the legal battle intensifies, all eyes are now on the court’s next decision will Drake succeed in pushing the case forward, or will UMG manage to stall the proceedings? Either way this fight is far from over.
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