Nevertheless, the lawyers also make clear that the complaint “is not about the artist who created ‘Not Like Us.’ 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.” They continue: “Drake is not a pedophile. Drake has never engaged in any acts that would require he be ‘placed on neighborhood watch.’ Drake has never engaged in sexual relations with a minor. Drake has never been charged with, or convicted of, any criminal acts whatsoever.”
Universal Music Group has previously denied Drake’s claims of wrongdoing. Pitchfork has reached out to the company’s representatives for comment.
The lawsuit continues by alleging that Universal Music Group undertook a “successful” and “unrelenting campaign” to promote the song, its single artwork (“depicting Drake’s actual Toronto house”), and its music video “as widely as possible.” “UMG did so because it understood that the Recording’s inflammatory and shocking allegations were a gold mine,” Drake’s team contends.
UMG’s campaign, according to the lawsuit, involved helping secure Kendrick Lamar’s spot as the Super Bowl LVI halftime show performer and paying to promote the Grammy candidacy of “Not Like Us.” The song ultimate got five nominations for the 2025 Grammy Awards.
The lawsuit outlines traditional promotional tactics for a hit song, such as marketing and licensing, but also accuses UMG of “[conspiring] with and [paying] currently unknown parties to use ‘bots’ to artificially inflate the spread of the Recording on Spotify.” In addition, the lawyers allege that “UMG also offered financial incentives, including direct payments and reduced licensing rates, to various third parties to promote the Recording.”
Drake, according to his lawyers, “confronted UMG about its role in promoting allegations of sexual misconduct lacking ‘the slightest factual basis’ against him,” but the label allegedly “refused to do anything to help.” The rapper also says that he “attempted to address these claims privately with UMG,” but the label apparently “responded that Drake would face humiliation if he brought legal action.”
Further, Drake says he took it upon himself to deny Lamar’s “Not Like Us” claims through his response song “The Heart Part 6.” In the track, “Drake explained that he has ‘never been with no one underage’ and that his name is not on the ‘sex offender list,’” the lawsuit notes.
A separate action, in Bexar County, Texas, against Universal Music Group and iHeartRadio remains pending. That contained two separate claims: that UMG should have blocked the song’s release, on the basis that it “falsely [accused] him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts, harboring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts”; and that UMG funneled payments to iHeartRadio in a pay-to-play promotional scheme that violates the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
This article was originally published on Wednesday, January 15, at 9:38 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. It was last updated on January 15 at 11:22 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
