August 14, 2025
The saga continues during the discovery stage of Drake’s defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group
In Drake’s defamation lawsuit against his distribution label, Universal Music Group, his attorneys have recently requested information about his rival, Kendrick Lamar’s contract with the company, as well as any documented paperwork related to allegations of domestic violence or any crimes allegedly committed by Lamar.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Canadian superstar is looking to receive those items in a discovery move against the recording label in his suit, accusing the label of spreading defamatory statements that Lamar alluded to in his hit song, “Not Like Us.” The attorneys are asking the court to force UMG and the company’s CEO, Lucian Grainge, to turn over the label’s contract with Lamar, as well as information related to alleged crimes committed by the “M.A.A.d City” rapper.
In the paperwork, Drake has stated that the label allowed Lamar to spread a narrative that the OVO label owner is a pedophile, thus ruining his reputation. He also asserted that UMG offered reduced licensing rates to third parties to help promote “Not Like Us” to bring down Drake’s value while they were in the middle of contract renegotiations.
After a previous court date, after UMG handed Drake’s lawyers the contract it had with Lamar, he had an issue with some of the redactions in the 22-page document, “rendering it virtually unreadable and incomprehensible.” Drake is trying to determine if anything he can gather can help him prove that the label was trying to lowball him in current contract negotiations as he tries to re-up with UMG.
UMG also does not want to include Grainge in the discovery, as they stated that the CEO has “no meaningful involvement in the matters and decisions at issue in this litigation.”
The company has tried to get the case thrown out previously after filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, citing that Drake “lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated.”
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