Kendrick Lamar controversial halftime show features Serena Williams
Serena Williams joined Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl halftime show. Lamar performed his diss track “Not Like Us,” about Williams’ ex, Drake.
NEW YORK — Drake expanded his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group, saying more people were duped into believing he was a pedophile after rapper Kendrick Lamar performed “Not Like Us” during the Super Bowl halftime show.
In an amended complaint filed April 16 against his record label, Drake, 38, said the performances introduced millions of new listeners to Lamar’s smash hit and have led to more threats against the Canadian rapper, born Aubrey Drake Graham, and his family.
Drake said this occurred though Lamar omitted the word “pedophile” from his Super Bowl performance, seen by more than 133.5 million people, ostensibly because “nearly everyone understands” it was defamatory.
“It was the first, and will hopefully be the last, Super Bowl halftime show orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist,” Drake said.
“Not Like Us” also includes the lyric “Drake, I hear you like ’em young,” which Lamar sang at the Super Bowl.
In a statement on Thursday, UMG called Drake’s accusations baseless and his lawsuit an affront to creative expression.
“Drake, unquestionably one of the world’s most accomplished artists and with whom we’ve enjoyed a 16-year successful relationship, is being misled by his legal representatives into taking one absurd legal step after another,” UMG said.
UMG had sought to dismiss Drake’s original lawsuit, which was filed on Jan. 15 in Manhattan federal court, and will have a chance to dismiss the amended lawsuit. In response to the music conglomerate’s statement on the ongoing litigation, a spokesperson for Drake said UMG is attempting to “spin the narrative and deflect from the truth.”
“UMG claims to stand for creativity but in fact exploits it, and the artist community knows that,” the spokesperson said. “Drake joins a growing chorus of artists raising questions about UMG’s leadership. … UMG said, ‘Be careful what you ask for.’ Drake knows exactly what he asked for: the truth and accountability.”
Drake is seeking unspecified damages, saying UMG tried to boost profit and make him a pariah by promoting Lamar. “UMG will be held accountable for the consequences of its ill-conceived decisions,” said Drake’s lawyer Michael Gottlieb in a statement.
Drake and Lamar have feuded for about a decade, including through a series of competing diss tracks.
“Not Like Us” was released on May 4, 2024, one day after Drake’s “Family Matters” appeared to accuse Lamar of physical abuse and infidelity and questioned the parentage of one of his children.
Lamar’s song won Grammy Awards for record and song of the year and topped Billboard’s Hot 100 for three weeks. He also won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
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