A federal judge has tossed Drake's defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar's hit track "Not Like Us" on Thursday, ruling that the diss track's explosive lyrics are protected as opinion. Drake had accused UMG, which distributed the song and also is his label, of facilitating defamatory allegations of pedophilia against him by promoting it and making secret payments to boost its exposure, per the Hollywood Reporter. The goal, Drake maintained, was to harm his reputation and negotiating position with the label. US District Judge Jeannette Vargas said the context had to be taken into consideration.
"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 wrote, per the AP. Lyrics cited by Drake as defamatory were found by the court to be ambiguous at most. The yearslong conflict between Drake and Lamar has included several diss tracks with several accusations. "Not Like Us" has had commercial and critical success, winning major Grammys and being performed at the Super Bowl halftime show.
Lamar was not named in the suit, and his representative did not immediately comment. UMG welcomed the decision, saying the suit "was an affront to all artists and their creative expression," per the Reporter. That's trash-talking and hyperbole in "Not Like Us," the New York-based judge said, saying that consumers get it. "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," Vargas wrote.
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