Photo Credit: Drake by Charito Yap for The Come Up Show / CC by 2.0
Drake settles his lawsuit against iHeartMedia in his ongoing battle over Kendrick Lamar’s diss track, “Not Like Us.” But his dispute with UMG remains.
Drake and iHeartMedia have reached a settlement in the legal dispute filed by the former back in November. His legal petition alleged that the radio giant had received illegal payments from Universal Music Group (UMG) to boost airplay for Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” But his claim against UMG — the parent company for both Drake and Lamar — remains active.
In a court document filed last week, Drake’s attorneys said the rapper and iHeartMedia had reached “an amicable resolution” in the dispute, but provided no additional details. “We are pleased that the parties were able to reach a settlement satisfactory to both sides, and have no further comment on this matter,” said Drake’s legal team.
The 38-year-old Toronto rapper filed a defamation lawsuit against UMG in federal New York City court in January over what he calls false allegations of pedophilia made in Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” Notable, Lamar is not named in the filing. A hearing on a motion by UMG’s lawyers to dismiss Drake’s petition against the company was scheduled for last Wednesday in a San Antonio courtroom.
According to Drake’s court petition, he alleges UMG engaged in “irregular and inappropriate business practices” to boost airplay for Kendrick Lamar’s hit diss track. He further alleges UMG knew “the song itself, as well as its accompanying album art and music video, attacked the character of another one of UMG’s most prominent artists […] by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts, harboring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts.”
The ongoing feud between Drake and Lamar has been among the most significant in hip-hop in recent years. The 37-year-old Lamar is a Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist who headlined the Super Bowl halftime show last month. There, he performed “Not Like Us” — albeit with mentions of pedophilia censored — to Drake’s chagrin.
Drake’s legal team asserted that if the song were performed at the event, the litigation against UMG would intensify. Nevertheless, Lamar’s performance has since become the most-watched halftime show in history, due in no small part to the feud between the two rappers.
