Drake has amended his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG), claiming that Kendrick Lamar’s high-profile appearances at the Grammys and the Super Bowl serve as clear evidence that the label intentionally sought to “assassinate” his character for financial gain.
In an amended complaint filed Wednesday and obtained by HuffPost, the Canadian rapper argued that UMG’s actions since the original January lawsuit have only fueled false and harmful accusations portraying him as a sexual predator.
The lawsuit asserts that by facilitating Lamar’s performances at these “mega-cultural events,” UMG “duped” the public into believing that Drake was a pedophile, hoping to generate more attention and listeners for Lamar’s music.
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The filing alleges that UMG turned the February Super Bowl halftime show, one of the world’s most-watched events, into a spectacle designed to damage Drake’s reputation.
It describes the performance as “the first, and will hopefully be the last, Super Bowl halftime show orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist.”
A key aspect of the lawsuit focuses on the omission of the word “pedophile” from Lamar’s performance of the diss track “Not Like Us” during the Super Bowl.
The complaint argues that the absence of any other modifications to the song shows that the NFL and its broadcasting partners recognized the accusation was “unacceptable,” yet UMG continued to distribute the uncensored version for its own benefit.
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In a statement to HuffPost, UMG dismissed Drake’s defamation lawsuit as a misguided, meritless “affront to all artists and creative expression.”
“Drake, unquestionably one of the world’s most accomplished artists with whom we’ve enjoyed a 16-year successful relationship, is being misled by his legal representatives into pursuing one absurd legal step after another,” the statement read, calling the ongoing litigation “foolish and frivolous legal theatrics.”
The music giant further asserted that the “reckless lawsuit” had backfired and was itself responsible for significant damage to Drake’s reputation and finances.
Regarding a discovery motion granted earlier this month, UMG’s statement warned: “As the old saying goes, ‘be careful what you wish for.’”
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