Drake has filed a new petition asking a court in San Antonio for permission to depose Universal Music Group and iHeart to determine whether UMG funneled payments to the audio giant to unduly promote Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
The petition signaled that Drake is considering whether to sue for defamation. The petition alleges that “UMG knew that 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, Drake, by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts, harboring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts.”
“UMG … could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed,” Drake’s lawyers write. “But UMG chose to do the opposite. UMG designed, financed and then executed a plan to turn ‘Not Like Us’ into a viral mega-hit with the intent of using the spectacle of harm to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, massive revenues. That plan succeeded, likely beyond UMG’s wildest expectations.”
The new filing comes a day after a filing in which Drake claimed UMG and Spotify conspired to “artificially inflate” the spread of Kendrick’s diss track “Not Like Us” and “deceive consumers into believing the song was more popular than it was in reality.”
Drake’s petition said UMG “has been taking steps in an apparent effort to conceal its schemes, including, but not limited to, by terminating employees associated with or perceived as having loyalty to Drake.”
UMG denied the allegations in the first filing, telling Billboard, “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns.”
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