Billboard Women in Music 2025
Drake made some progress in his slander against Universal Music Group Over Kendrick Lamars ‘not like US’ after a judge denied Universal’s request to remain the detection process and allowed Drake To continue to request access to documents, including Lamar’s contract with the label.
At a conference before the trial earlier today in New York, Judge Jeanette Vargas decided in favor of Drake’s legal team and found that they can start to dismiss managers and request documents. Last month, UMG asked the judge to remain all discovery in the case, which included requirements for “all contracts” between Kendrick Lamar and UMG as well as compensation and incentives such as wages and bonuses for Interscope -CEO John Janick and other managers.
Michael Gottlieb, Drake’s main lawyer and partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, celebrated the decision in a statement to Amount: “Now it’s time to see what UMG so desperately tried to hide.”
A universal representative did not immediately respond to AmountRequest for comment.
Universal had entered a letter to remain discovered on March 18, claiming that Drake’s first set of discovery requests would cause “unnecessary burden” and “require costly collection and review of large discoveries of hard copy and electronic data sets, contracts and contracts and communication.” Among the requested documents, Lamar’s contract was with universal and measurement values that determined incentive compensation for Interscope managers over the past five years.
The company has been on the offensive in the case since it was submitted in January, last Archive a quotation proposal last month To dismiss the suit and say that Drake is just right because he “lost a rap fight.” “Instead of accepting the loss as the unmatched rap artist he often claims to be, he has been tuned with his own record label in an incorrect attempt to ointment his wounds,” read the archiving. “The plaintiff’s complaint is completely without merits and should be dismissed with prejudice.” In today’s decision, the judge planned a hearing on the proposal to reject June 30.
Drake initially gave the action against Universal in January, sued the company for slander and harassment and spreads the “false and harmful story” that he is a pedophile via “not like us.” Drake’s legal team said Universal knew that Lamar’s texts and pictures in the song’s music video were false and dangerous, but continued to market it for profit. The costume also accused Universal of gathering with Spotify to falsely blow up streaming numbers for “not like us”, a statement that both companies denied.
In the same month, Universal submitted a proposal to dismiss Drake’s separate presentation on the storage of pre -expansion in Texas, with reference to lack of evidence in the rapper’s claims against the record label that the artificial and promoted “not like us” after it was released in May last year.
