Drake’s court battle with his own record label for releasing a diss track by Kendrick Lamar that accused him of pedophilia has met a premature end.
A federal judge in New York on Thursday dismissed the defamation and harassment lawsuit brought by Drake, the Canadian superstar born Aubrey Drake Graham, in January, calling “Not Like Us” the “metaphorical killing blow” in “perhaps the most infamous rap battle in the genre’s history,” while ruling that its lyrics constituted “nonactionable opinion,” meaning it could not be found to be defamatory.
“The issue in this case is whether ‘Not Like Us’ can reasonably be understood to convey as a factual matter that Drake is a pedophile or that he has engaged in sexual relations with minors,” the judge, Jeannette A. Vargas, wrote. “In light of the overall context in which the statements in the Recording were made, the Court holds that it cannot.”
Initially released in May 2024, “Not Like Us” became the defining and deciding song in a rapid flurry of back-and-forth attacks by the rappers, who released eight tracks targeting one another with what the court called “increasingly heated rhetoric, loaded accusations and violent imagery.”
“Not Like Us,” which accused Drake of liking young girls, went on to win five Grammy Awards, including song and record of the year, and provided the centerpiece for Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance in February.
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