UMG Slams Drake's Defamation Lawsuit as 'Astoundingly Hypocritical' in Kendrick Lamar Feud

Universal Music Group is doubling down in its legal battle with Drake, arguing that his attempt to revive his defamation lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” is fundamentally flawed and illogical.

In a new 83-page appellate brief, obtained by Rolling Stone, UMG asserts that Aubrey Drake Graham (Drake) is presenting arguments so flawed and “nonsensical” that he’s attempting to “turn the law upside down.” Filed in the Second Circuit, the brief supports U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas's October ruling that Lamar’s lyrics, which labeled Drake a pedophile, were “nonactionable opinion,” not statements of fact.

UMG argues that Drake freely used their platform to attack Lamar “in equally incendiary terms” when it suited him, but now seeks a different standard for criticism directed at him. The filing states, “[Drake] seeks to strip words from their context and deem them actionable defamation if anyone, anywhere, might treat them as factual. That is not the law, and Drake’s view would critically undermine a highly creative art form built on exaggeration, insult, and wordplay.”

Judge Vargas's initial dismissal hinged on the context of Lamar’s lyrics as a “direct callback to Drake’s lyrics” within “a heated rap battle with incendiary language.” She concluded that a reasonable listener would interpret Lamar's words as “rapping hyperbolic vituperations,” not “verifiable facts.”

"The issue in this case is whether ‘Not Like Us’ can reasonably be understood to convey as a factual matter that Drake is a pedophile or that he has engaged in sexual relations with minors,” Vargas wrote. “In light of the overall context in which the statements in the recording were made, the court holds that it cannot.”

The nine-track rap battle, which ignited in April 2024, reached a boiling point with Drake’s release of “Family Matters” on May 3, 2024. In it, he accused Lamar of domestic abuse and questioned the paternity of one of his children. Lamar responded with “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us,” the latter’s hook of “certified lover boy, certified pedophile” becoming a viral sensation.

UMG emphasizes that the court was correct to consider the songs “in dialogue with one another.” They point to Lamar’s line, “Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young,” as a direct response to Drake’s lyrics in “Taylor Made Freestyle,” where he taunted Lamar to address rumors of Drake dating someone underage. “Talk about him likin’ young girls,” Drake says in the track.

“As much as Drake may dislike that context after the fact, it is fair game and critical to consider under New York law,” UMG’s lawyers argue.

UMG also dismisses Drake’s argument that Lamar’s lyrics could be defamatory because rap lyrics are sometimes admitted as evidence in criminal cases as “nonsensical.” They highlight that Drake signed a November 2022 petition criticizing prosecutors for treating artists’ creative expression as fact.

The filing calls Drake’s argument “astoundingly hypocritical,” citing the petition’s claim that “more than any other art form, rap lyrics are essentially being used as confessions in an attempt to criminalize Black creativity and artistry,” and that such use “is un-American and simply wrong.” It suggests Drake is now contradicting his previous stance to suit his current legal battle.

In his January appeal, Drake argued that Lamar’s track states, as a “precise” and “unambiguous matter of fact,” that Drake is a “certified pedophile.” He claimed UMG “relentlessly” marketed “Not Like Us” in a way that misled consumers and caused him serious harm. He said Lamar’s lyrics are “capable of being proven true or false,” so his lawsuit belongs in front of a jury.

Drake’s legal team also argued that dismissing his lawsuit could set a “dangerous categorical rule” that would shield artists and labels from liability, regardless of how extreme or damaging their accusations might be. UMG countered that this argument “blatantly mischaracterizes” Judge Vargas’ ruling.

“It nowhere indicated that a diss track could never be defamatory; it simply recognized that the ‘average listener’ in this forum and ‘common expectation’ for statements in this forum were significant,” UMG’s filing states. “It held, including in light of those considerations, that this diss track could not be understood by a reasonable listener as conveying fact.”

Drake initially sued UMG in January 2025, accusing the label of promoting Lamar’s song to convey the “specific, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile.” He notably sued only the record label, not Lamar himself.

UMG responded with motions to dismiss, asserting that Drake “lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated,” and is now attempting to “salve his wounds” by suing his own record label.

“Not Like Us” later won Grammy Awards for Record and Song of the Year, becoming only the third hip-hop song to win Record of the Year after Childish Gambino’s “This Is America,” and Lizzo’s “About Damn Time.” Lamar also performed the song during the widely viewed 2025 Super Bowl halftime show.

Drake is expected to respond to UMG’s new appellate filing with a reply brief due April 17.

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