Drake appeals dismissal of ‘Not Like Us’ lawsuit
A judge dismissed the lawsuit Drake filed against Universal Music Group last year, but the Toronto rapper has now filed an appeal.
Drizzy initially filed his suit in January 2025, claiming UMG valued “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists” regarding Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ diss track.
He alleged the label “approved, published and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track” that was “intended to convey the specific, unmistakable and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal paedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response.”
Judge Jeannette A Vargas dismissed the case in October 2025. However, Drake isn’t taking no for an answer.
In a brief filed on January 21st, Drake claimed that Kendrick stated he is a “certified paedophile” as an “unambiguous matter of fact.” According to Rolling Stone, he believes that UMG caused serious harm by misleading listeners with “relentless” marketing of the song.
Drake also claimed that by dismissing his lawsuit, “The court effectively created an unprecedented and overbroad categorical rule that statements in rap diss tracks can never constitute statements of fact.”
Last year, Vargas claimed that Kendrick’s lyrics were a “non-actionable opinion” and not a fact.
“The issue in this case is whether ‘Not Like Us’ can reasonably be understood to convey as a factual matter that Drake is a paedophile or that he has engaged in sexual relations with minors,” she said. “In light of the overall context in which the statements in the Recording were made, the Court holds that it cannot.”
She continued, “The average listener is not under the impression that a diss track is the product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public fact-checked verifiable content.”
Drake wants his case to be decided at trial, rather than in a motion to dismiss.