Drake’s defamation case against record label UMG dismissed by federal judge
Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on October 9, 2025
A federal judge in New York has dismissed Drake’s defamation case against his record label, Universal Music Group, stemming from a rap battle with Kendrick Lamar.
Judge Jeannette Vargas determined the allegedly defamatory statements at issue in the lawsuit are “nonactionable opinion” and dismissed Drake’s lawsuit against UMG.
“‘Not Like Us’ is replete with profanity, trash-talking, threats of violence, and figurative and hyperbolic language, all of which are indicia of opinion,” Vargas said.”A rap diss track would not create more of an expectation in the average listener that the lyrics state sober facts instead of opinion than the statements at issue in those cases.”
Drake alleged UMG intentionally published and promoted Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” while knowing the song’s insinuations that he has sexual relations with minors were false and defamatory.
The judge noted the case “arises from perhaps the most infamous rap battle in the genre’s history,” a vitriolic war of words between Drake and Kendrick Lamar in 2024.
Over the course of 16 days, the two artists released eight diss tracks with increasingly heated rhetoric, loaded accusations and violent imagery.
“Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, “dealt the metaphorical killing blow,” Vargas said. The song contains lyrics explicitly accusing Drake of being a pedophile, set to a catchy beat and propulsive bass line but Vargas concluded a listener would not take the song to be factual.
“Although the accusation that Plaintiff is a pedophile is certainly a serious one, the broader context of a heated rap battle, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by both participants, would not incline the reasonable listener to believe that ‘Not Like Us’ imparts verifiable facts about Plaintiff,” Vargas said.
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