Drake complains about Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ Super Bowl performance in new defamation claims

Hip hop celebrity Drake is now complaining about rival rapper Kendrick Lamar’s efficiency of “Not Like Us” at this 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl, including it to his defamation lawsuit in opposition to Common Music Group over the diss observe and its allegations of pedophilia in opposition to Drake.

“The Recording was carried out through the 2025 Tremendous Bowl and broadcast to the biggest viewers for a Tremendous Bowl halftime present ever, over 133 million folks, together with thousands and thousands of youngsters, and thousands and thousands extra who had by no means earlier than heard the track or any of the songs that preceded it,” says the amended lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court docket in Manhattan.

It provides, “It was the primary, and can hopefully be the final, Tremendous Bowl halftime present orchestrated to assassinate the character of one other artist.”

Though Lamar eliminated the phrase “pedophile” that’s within the observe throughout the halftime present, the truth that it was omitted confirmed that “practically everybody understands that it’s defamatory,” the swimsuit says. It additionally alleges Common Music used monetary advantages and leveraged enterprise relationships to safe the headliner spot for Lamar on the Tremendous Bowl, and promoted the efficiency.

“Drake’s amended grievance makes an already sturdy case stronger,” his lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, mentioned in an announcement. “Drake will expose the proof of UMG’s misconduct, and UMG can be held accountable for the implications of its ill-conceived choices.”

This 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl and its halftime present have been the most-watched ever, in line with Nielsen.

In an announcement responding to the court docket submitting, Common Music, the father or mother report label of each artists, continued to disclaim Drake’s allegations.

“Drake, unquestionably one of many world’s most achieved artists and with whom we’ve loved a 16-year profitable relationship, is being misled by his authorized representatives into taking one absurd authorized step after one other,” the corporate mentioned. “It’s shameful that these silly and frivolous authorized theatrics proceed.”

A spokesperson for Drake mentioned in a ready launch that the artist is “holding the biggest music conglomerate on the planet accountable for its actions and doing so with out worry.”

The amended lawsuit additionally provides that defamatory parts of “Not Like Us” have been performed on the Grammy Awards in February, when the only received 5 awards, together with track and report of the 12 months. The swimsuit claims that Common Music additionally helped safe the Grammy nominations and allowed the track to be performed on the ceremony.

Drake sued Common Music, however not Lamar, for undisclosed damages in January, saying the corporate revealed and promoted “Not Like Us” regardless of its false pedophilia allegations and recommendations that listeners ought to resort to vigilante justice.

The outcome, the swimsuit says, was intruders capturing a safety guard at Drake’s Toronto dwelling and two tried break-ins there, on-line hate and harassment, a success to his status and a lower in his model’s worth earlier than his contract renegotiation with UMG this 12 months. The amended lawsuit additionally provides extra on-line feedback indicating folks consider the pedophilia allegations.

Drake, a 38-year-old Canadian rapper and singer and five-time Grammy winner, and Lamar, a 37-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner with 22 Grammy wins, have been beefing for years. The feud is among the many largest in hip hop in recent times.

The 2 have been occasional collaborators greater than a decade in the past, however Lamar started taking public jabs at Drake beginning in 2013. The battle escalated steeply final 12 months, as each launched diss tracks at one another, together with Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”

“Say, Drake, I hear you want ’em younger / You higher not ever go to cell block one,” Lamar raps.

In its movement to dismiss the lawsuit, Common Music says Drake helped gasoline the meat along with his personal inflammatory diss tracks aimed toward Lamar.

“Plaintiff, one of the vital profitable recording artists of all time, misplaced a rap battle that he provoked and during which he willingly participated,” the movement says. “As a substitute of accepting the loss just like the unbothered rap artist he usually claims to be, he has sued his personal report label in a misguided try and salve his wounds.”