Federal judge dismisses Drake’s defamation lawsuit against Universal over Kendrick Lamar’s diss track

A federal judge in New York has dismissed Drake’s defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG), ruling that the claims regarding Kendrick Lamar’s 2024 diss track “Not Like Us” were protected as opinion and not fact. In her decision, Judge Jeannette Vargas found that the statements Drake claimed were defamatory amounted to an “unenforceable opinion,” effectively ending the high-profile case.

“A rap diss track would no longer give the average listener the expectation that the lyrics contain down-to-earth facts rather than opinions,” wrote Vargas, who described the song as full of “profanity, trash talk, threats of violence, and figurative and hyperbolic language.”

If reported Through ABC NewsDrake sued UMG for defamation and harassment, accusing the label of knowingly publishing and promoting Lamar’s Grammy-winning hit despite insinuations that he had sexual relations with minors. The judge noted that the case “stems from perhaps the most infamous rap battle in the history of the genre,” referring to the 2024 back-and-forth in which both rappers exchanged barbed lyrics on multiple songs.

“Not Like Us,” which Lamar performed at the 2025 Super Bowl, went on to win the Grammy Awards and earn five trophies, including Song and Record of the Year.

In a statement after the ruling, UMG said the lawsuit was “an insult to all artists and their creative expression and should never have seen the light of day.”

The label added that it looks forward to “continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”

However, Drake’s legal team said they plan to appeal. “This lawsuit exposes the human and business consequences of UMG’s profit increase versus the safety and well-being of its artists,” they said in a statement.

UMG’s previous response to the case accused Drake of hypocrisy: “He deliberately and successfully used UMG to disseminate his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous, back-and-forth rap battles… He is now attempting to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression.”

Judge Vargas ultimately concluded that the allegations in Lamar’s song — including calling Drake a pedophile — would not be interpreted as literal facts. “The broader context of a heated rap battle… would not lead the reasonable listener to believe that ‘Not Like Us’ conveys verifiable facts,” Vargas wrote.

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