Drake adds Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl performance to his lawsuit against record label

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Apr 17, 2025 1:44 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Drake expanded his defamation suit against Universal Music Group, saying much radical were duped into believing helium was a pedophile aft rapper Kendrick Lamar performed Not Like Us during the Super Bowl halftime amusement and astatine the Grammy Awards.

In an amended ailment filed precocious Wednesday nighttime against his grounds label, Drake said the performances introduced millions of caller listeners to Lamar's smash hit, and person led to much threats against the Canadian rapper and his family.

Drake said this occurred though Lamar omitted the connection "pedophile" from his Super Bowl performance, seen by much than 133 cardinal people, ostensibly due to the fact that "nearly everyone understands" it was defamatory.

"It was the first, and volition hopefully beryllium the last, Super Bowl halftime amusement orchestrated to assassinate the quality of different artist," Drake said successful the lawsuit.

Not Like Us besides includes the lyric "Drake, I perceive you similar 'em young," which Lamar sang astatine the Super Bowl.

In a connection connected Thursday, UMG called Drake's accusations baseless and his suit an affront to originative expression.

"Drake, unquestionably 1 of the world's astir accomplished artists and with whom we've enjoyed a 16-year palmy relationship, is being misled by his ineligible representatives into taking 1 absurd ineligible measurement aft another," UMG said.

Allegation UMG boosted Lamar's music

UMG had sought to disregard Drake's archetypal lawsuit, filed connected Jan. 15 successful Manhattan national court, and volition person a accidental to disregard the amended lawsuit.

Drake is seeking unspecified damages, alleging UMG tried to boost its nett and marque him a pariah by promoting Lamar. In the amended lawsuit, helium alleges that UMG "made important fiscal investments and leveraged its nonrecreational connections" to put specifically for Not Like Us to beryllium performed astatine the Super Bowl. 

He besides alleged that the Super Bowl show introduced the opus to "millions much who had never [sic] earlier heard the opus oregon any [sic] of the songs that preceded it."

"UMG volition beryllium held accountable for the consequences of its ill-conceived decisions," Drake's lawyer Michael Gottlieb said successful a statement.

Drake and Lamar person feuded for astir a decade, including done a bid of competing diss tracks.

Not Like Us was released past May 4, 1 time aft Drake's Family Matters appeared to impeach Lamar of carnal maltreatment and infidelity and questioned the parentage of 1 of his children.

Lamar's opus won Grammy Awards for grounds and opus of the year, and topped Billboard's Hot 100 for 3 weeks.

Drake's fixed sanction is Aubrey Drake Graham. Lamar, an American, won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music.