Drake Battles UMG Over ‘Not Like Us’ Lawsuit as Super Bowl Performance Fuels Tensions
Drake’s legal battle with Universal Music Group (UMG) over Kendrick Lamar’s hit diss track, Not Like Us, has hit another roadblock—this time over scheduling. And now, Drizzy’s legal team is pointing to Kendrick’s Super Bowl halftime performance as proof that UMG’s actions are still harming him, according to HipHopDX.
The dispute surfaced in a letter Drake’s attorney, Michael J. Gottlieb, filed on Monday (February 24) to Judge Antonio Vargas. In it, he fires back at UMG’s recent claim that Drake’s side was preparing to drop “key allegations” from their defamation lawsuit. Gottlieb denies that, arguing that UMG is really only worried about “a single factual allegation” that wouldn’t make much difference even if adjusted.
At the heart of this legal tug-of-war is a pre-trial conference set for April 2. UMG wants to delay it so the judge has time to review their upcoming motion to dismiss the case, which they plan to file by March 17. But Drake’s team is pushing to keep the conference on schedule. They also want UMG to start turning over evidence—something the company has resisted, calling it “premature” in a letter filed Friday (February 21).
Gottlieb argues that delaying the process would only hurt Drake more, pointing to Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance as proof.
“Delaying discovery would unfairly prejudice [Drake], who is continuing to suffer the consequences of UMG’s defamatory campaign,” he writes. “Indeed, at the same time UMG has been delaying here, UMG launched new campaigns to further spread the defamatory content [‘Not Like Us’], including at the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show, which had over 133.5 million viewers.”
Drake first filed the lawsuit last month in New York federal court, accusing UMG—the parent company of both his and Kendrick’s record labels—of defamation and harassment. According to TODAY, the Toronto rapper claims UMG “approved, published, and launched a campaign” to turn Not Like Us into a viral hit, despite it “falsely” portraying him as a pedophile and calling for violence against him.
He further alleges that UMG used “unlawful” tactics, like secretly paying for fake streams and radio play, to push the song’s success. Their motive? Money. Not only would the track rake in profits, but Drake argues UMG also wanted to “devalue [his] music and brand” ahead of contract negotiations.
“UMG anticipated that extending Drake’s contract would be costly,” the lawsuit reads. “By devaluing Drake’s music and brand, UMG would gain leverage to force Drake to sign a new deal on terms more favorable to UMG.”
To support his defamation claim, Drake’s lawsuit includes examples of what he calls an “avalanche of online hate speech” branding him a sex offender. It also points to a shooting at his Toronto home—shortly after the release of Not Like Us—which injured a security guard, along with several trespassing incidents. According to Drake, UMG is responsible.
