Drake’s Label Fires Back at Rapper in Appeals Court: ‘Astoundingly Hypocritical’

'Not Like Us' Lawsuit Drake’s Label Fires Back at Rapper in Appeals Court: ‘Astoundingly Hypocritical’ Universal Music Group says Kendrick Lamar's lyrics calling Drake a pedophile represent "classic opinion," and Drake's attempt to revive his defamation lawsuit should fail By Nancy Dillon Nancy Dillon Contact Nancy Dillon on X Contact Nancy Dillon by Email View all posts by Nancy Dillon March 27, 2026 Universal Music Group is firing back at Drake again, arguing in a new appellate brief that the rapper’s attempt to revive his failed defamation lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar ’s “Not Like Us” is illogical and “astoundingly hypocritical.” In its new 83-page filing obtained by Rolling Stone , UMG says the Canadian rapper born Aubrey Drake Graham is making arguments so flawed and “nonsensical” that he’s attempting to “turn the law upside down.” The new brief, filed in the Second Circuit, argues U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas ruled correctly last October when she concluded that Lamar’s lyrics calling Drake a pedophile were “nonactionable opinion,” meaning not statements of fact. The label says Drake clearly felt free to use UMG’s platform to attack Lamar “in equally incendiary terms” when it suited him, but now he’s seeking a different standard for the “words he now dislikes” that were directed at him. “ seeks to strip words from their context and deem them actionable defamation if anyone, anywhere, might treat them as factual. That is not the law, and Drake’s view would critically undermine a highly creative art form built on exaggeration, insult, and wordplay,” the new filing argues. In her ruling dismissing Drake’s lawsuit last fall, Judge Vargas found that Lamar’s lyrics were delivered as a “direct callback to Drake’s lyrics” amid “a heated rap battle with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by both participants.” She determined a reasonable listener would conclude Lamar was “rapping hyperbolic vituperations,” not “verifiable facts.” “The issue i...