Federal Judge Tosses Drake’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Universal Over Kendrick Lamar Diss Track
“Not Like Us,” which Lamar performed at the 2025 Super Bowl, went on to sweep the Grammy Awards, earning five trophies including Song and Record of the Year.
Black News 
A federal judge in New York has dismissed Drake’s defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG), ruling that the claims tied to Kendrick Lamar’s 2024 diss track “Not Like Us” were protected as opinion rather than fact. In her decision, Judge Jeannette Vargas determined that the statements Drake alleged were defamatory amounted to “nonactionable opinion,” effectively ending the high-profile case.
“A rap diss track would not create more of an expectation in the average listener that the lyrics state sober facts instead of opinion,” Vargas wrote, describing the song as full of “profanity, trash-talking, threats of violence, and figurative and hyperbolic language.”
As reported by ABC News, Drake sued UMG for defamation and harassment, accusing the label of knowingly publishing and promoting Lamar’s Grammy-winning hit despite its insinuations that he engaged in sexual relationships with minors. The judge noted that the case “arises from perhaps the most infamous rap battle in the genre’s history,” referring to the 2024 back-and-forth that saw both rappers trading barbed lyrics across multiple tracks.
“Not Like Us,” which Lamar performed at the 2025 Super Bowl, went on to sweep the Grammy Awards, earning five trophies, including Song and Record of the Year.
In a statement following the ruling, UMG said the lawsuit “was an affront to all artists and their creative expression and never should have seen the light of day.”
The label added that it looked forward to “continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”
Drake’s legal team, however, said they plan to appeal. “This lawsuit reveals the human and business consequences to UMG’s elevation of profits over the safety and well-being of its artists,” they said in a statement.
UMG’s earlier response to the case accused Drake of hypocrisy: “He intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous, back-and-forth rap battles… He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression.”
Judge Vargas ultimately concluded that the accusations within Lamar’s song — including calling Drake a pedophile — would not be interpreted as literal fact. “The broader context of a heated rap battle… would not incline the reasonable listener to believe that ‘Not Like Us’ imparts verifiable facts,” Vargas wrote.
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