In a recent development in the ongoing legal battle between Drake and Universal Music Group (UMG), Top Dog Entertainment President Punch seems to have co-signed a social media theory that Drake will likely win the defamation portion of his potential lawsuit against UMG over Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us."
In his recently filed petitions, Drake claims that UMG released K.Dot's now-Grammy-nominated song despite knowing that the track "falsely accus[es] him of being a sex offender." However, a recent discussion on the Rap Latte Podcast found co-host Curtis King arguing that Drake's claims won't hold up, as Kendrick never directly calls the OVO superstar a pedophile, and instead pluralizes the word and seems to actually be referring to the people in Drake's circle.
In response, Punch wrote in a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter): "You cooking Curtis. I was wondering when would ppl pick up on that." This suggests that Punch agrees with the theory that Kendrick's lyrics do not directly defame Drake, and that the Canadian superstar's legal case may not be as strong as he hopes.
Meanwhile, Drake has set the next steps for his legal battles against UMG. According to court records viewed by HipHopDX, Drizzy's petition filed in Bexar County, Texas will be heard before a judge on December 20. This hearing will determine whether the superstar is allowed to depose people from iHeartRadio and UMG, to ask them if they engaged in illegal activity around Kendrick's chart-topping diss track.
Drake also has another "Not Like Us"-related legal petition in New York, where a judge is set to make a decision on January 16, 2025. In this case, The Boy is asking the court to require Spotify and UMG to preserve any documents or messages relevant to their promotion of "Not Like Us."
The New York case alleges that UMG used bots, payola, and other methods to inflate the chart-topping performance of "Not Like Us," with the filing claiming that the label "did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices" and instead "launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves."
As the legal battle continues to unfold, it will be interesting to see how the courts rule on Drake's defamation claims and the alleged promotional tactics used by UMG to boost Kendrick Lamar's diss track. Stay tuned for further updates on this ongoing saga.
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