Entertainment
Drake’s Defamation Suit Against UMG Over Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ Dismissed
Drake sued UMG in January based on its promotion of “Not Like Us,” arguing the song’s false accusation that the Canadian rapper is a pedophile put him and his family in danger.
U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas said Lamar’s lyrics accusing Drake of being a pedophile were not defamatory because they were “nonactionable opinion.”
“Although the accusation that Plaintiff is a pedophile is certainly a serious one, the broader context of a heated rap battle, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by both participants, would not incline the reasonable listener to believe that ‘Not Like Us’ imparts verifiable facts,” Vargas said.
Attorneys for Drake and Lamar’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.
UMG said it was pleased by the dismissal. “From the outset, this suit was an affront to all artists and their creative expression and never should have seen the light of day,” UMG said in a statement.
The company said it looked forward to “continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”
Music industry publications have said Drake did not sue Lamar directly because the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution offers strong protections for individual creative expression. Drake argued UMG was responsible for distributing and profiting from the song.
“Not Like Us” won Grammy Awards in February for record and song of the year. It spent two weeks at the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 in 2024 and another week at No. 1 after Lamar performed it at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show.
(Reuters)
Kenya Insights allows guest blogging, if you want to be published on Kenya’s most authoritative and accurate blog, have an expose, news TIPS, story angles, human interest stories, drop us an email on [email protected] or via Telegram
The Teflon Company: How Gulf Energy’s Insiders Built Billions on Kenya’s Fuel, and Walked Away Clean
Inside Details Of Sh78 Billion Fraud in KPC’s Mombasa-Nairobi Line 5 Pipeline Project That Has Continued To Bleed The Country
Details Of The Precise Rescue Of Elite US Troops From Iranian Territory
The Fuel Deal That Exposed Wandayi’s Lies As Pressure Mounts For His Resignation
Who Architected the Ksh 4.8 Billion Fuel Scandal? Two CSs Now Caught in the Storm
THE ZAKHEM-ECOBANK MACHINE: How Kenya’s Courts Were Weaponised to Drain a State Corporation of Over KES 78 Billion
Poison at the Pump: How Kenya’s Fuel Marking System May Be Exposing Millions to Cancer-Causing Chemicals
Inside Nyayo House: The Kitchen Cartel That Demands Sh100,000 for a Stove
JSC Rot: “Why I Paid Over Sh4 Million for a High Court Slot” — Explosive Claims by ‘Incoming Judge’
Fly 748 Is Back And Flies You To Mombasa From Just Sh6,500
Tuju Forcefully Removed From His Karen Property With Masked Officers In Unmarked Vehicles In Early Morning Raid
Named: Havi Says Mutava Confessed He Was Collecting The Bribe For Lady Justice Josephine Mongare, So Why Is JSC Still Silence?
How Little-Known Pesa Print, Linked to State House Tycoons, Won NTSA Tender Worth Sh42 Billion in Traffic Fines
The Man With The Golden Pen: How NLC’s Joel Ombati Is Accused Of Masterminding Kenya’s Biggest Infrastructure Land Heist
‘They Will Eat You Alive’: Retired Teacher Warns Against Bashy African Credit as Sh500,000 Loan Spirals Into Sh1.5 Million Fight
THE HANDSHAKE THAT BECAME A NOOSE: How Tuju’s Alleged Intimate Access to EADB’s Yeda Apopo Produced a Sh294 Million Deal With No Written Contract, and Why That Trust Destroyed an Empire
Forged Legacy: How Kaplan and Stratton’s Peter Gachuhi Is Accused of Faking a Top AG’s Will as State Claims Damning Evidence
Waweru’s Bank Pockets Sh1.16 Billion from KPC IPO While Ordinary Kenyans Fled the Sale
Men Linked to Akasha Drug Dynasty Charged With Death Threats and Assault at Nairobi Nightclub
How Firm Linked To Mombasa Tycoon Jaffer Was Allowed To Import Fuel At Bloated Price And Set To Make Billions In Profits From Iranian War Crisis In Kenya
-
Business2 weeks agoTHE HANDSHAKE THAT BECAME A NOOSE: How Tuju’s Alleged Intimate Access to EADB’s Yeda Apopo Produced a Sh294 Million Deal With No Written Contract, and Why That Trust Destroyed an Empire
-
Investigations7 days agoForged Legacy: How Kaplan and Stratton’s Peter Gachuhi Is Accused of Faking a Top AG’s Will as State Claims Damning Evidence
-
News2 weeks agoMen Linked to Akasha Drug Dynasty Charged With Death Threats and Assault at Nairobi Nightclub
-
Business7 days agoHow Firm Linked To Mombasa Tycoon Jaffer Was Allowed To Import Fuel At Bloated Price And Set To Make Billions In Profits From Iranian War Crisis In Kenya
-
News2 weeks agoCity Lawyer Kimani Wachira Caught Up In Bribery Web Fights Claims
-
News6 days agoTreasury Hands Sh358M Brief to Eric Gumbo’s Firm While Bypassing Standard Rules — and the Lawyer Is Already Deep Inside Ruto’s State Machine
-
Business6 days agoSold And Abandoned: How Diageo and Asahi Are Locking Kenya’s EABL Minority Shareholders Out Of East Africa’s Biggest Corporate Heist
-
Business7 days agoTHE BANK THAT BROKE THE TRUCKER: How NCBA’s Asset Financing Empire Is on Trial Before London’s Most Feared Arbitral Tribunal