Drake and iHeartMedia Inc. have settled the legal action that Drake brought against the iHeartRadio owner over an alleged pay-to-play scheme to boost Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” court records show. In a statement to Pitchfork, iHeartMedia said, “In exchange for documents that showed iHeart did nothing wrong, Drake agreed to drop his petition. No payments were made—by either one of us.”
Drake had accused iHeartMedia of illegally accepting the payments from Universal Music Group (UMG)—the label of both Drake and Lamar and the target of a separate Drake lawsuit—in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Drake’s petition, filed in Bexar County, Texas, also claimed that UMG should have blocked the release of “Not Like Us,” on the basis that it “falsely [accused] him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts, harboring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts.” Drake is continuing to pursue his federal lawsuit against UMG, claiming the label’s release of “Not Like Us” constitutes harassment and defamation.
In the court document announcing the settlement, Drake’s attorneys said he and iHeartMedia had “reached an amicable resolution of the dispute,” according to The Associated Press.
