"Drake's new allegations are astonishing" — UMG files to dismiss amended lawsuit, arguing Drizzy has used "provocative taunts against other artists"
Last month, Canadian rapper Drake filed an amended lawsuit against UMG. In the suit, the rapper claimed that Kendrick Lamar's performance of Not Like Us at the Super Bowl in February further drew attention to the allegations made in the track. On May 7, UMG responded and filed to dismiss the aforementioned suit.
The new motion filed by Universal Music Group read:
"Drake's new allegations are astonishing. The focus of Drake's new claims – that 'the largest audience for a Super Bowl halftime show ever' did not hear Lamar call Drake or his crew p**ophiles – betrays this case for what it is: Drake’s attack on the commercial and creative success of the rap artist who defeated him, rather than the content of Lamar’s lyrics."
The attorneys for UMG also spoke about the allegations surrounding Kendrick's performance. According to Variety, they said:
"As Drake concedes, Lamar’s Super Bowl performance did not include the lyric that Drake or his associates are ‘certified p**ophiles’ (i.e., the alleged ‘Defamatory Material’ that is at the heart of this case)."
As per the May 7 report by The Rolling Stone, UMG responded by saying that the rapper's argument was that the NFL's decision to ban the word "p**ophile" during Lamar's February performance suggested that Not Like Us was defamatory.
Universal Music Group argued in its motion that there could be multiple reasons behind such a decision by the NFL, including avoiding further lawsuits by the rapper.
A UMG spokesperson further stated that Drake himself had released songs with "provocative taunts" in them
After filing a motion on Wednesday, a follow-up statement was also issued by a spokesperson for the Universal Music Group. According to The Rolling Stone, the statement claimed that while Drizzy had been complaining about the lyrics of Not Like Us, he had penned down such songs in the past. The statement read:
"Nowhere in the hundred-plus page ‘legal’ blather written by Drake’s lawyers do they bother to acknowledge that Drake himself has written and performed massively successful songs containing equally provocative taunts against other artists."
The statement further claimed that it was Drizzy who had started the popularized beef with Lamar, during which Not Like Us was released. The statement further read that Drizzy's lawyers believed that he could be "defamed" even though he willingly got into a rap beef, making similar exchanges.
“Apparently, Drake’s lawyers believe that when Drake willingly participates in a performative rap battle of music and poetry, he can be ‘defamed’ even though he engages in the exact same form of creative expression,” the statement read.
The Rolling Stone reported that Universal Music Group's attorneys have urged the judge overseeing the matter at the federal court to dismiss the amended suit. No response since Wednesday has been received from Drake or his lawyers.
The amended lawsuit filed last month by Drake claimed that threats against him and his family intensified post-Lamar's Super Bowl performance. The suit added that the performance that was broadcast to more than 130 million people ensured people who didn't hear the track before got to know about it.
The suit accused the Super Bowl halftime performance as the one that was "orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist." In March, UMG described the original suit by Drizzy to be "misguided." Just like the original lawsuit, Drizzy had sued the record label and not Kendrick Lamar in the amended one.
