Universal Music Group is once again hitting back at Drake over Kendrick Lamar’s “don’t like us” legal battle.
UMG Files Motion to Dismiss Texas’ Former Petition
On Thursday (Jan. 23), UMG’s attorneys filed a 144-page motion to dismiss Drake’s former action petition filed in Texas last November. Alleges the music group was defamed and conspired with iHeartradio to artificially inflate K-Dot’s songs on the charts. UMG is calling for the case to be dismissed to Texas Citizens, a law that protects citizens from retaliatory lawsuits in an attempt to free them from expressions of free speech.
UMG believes Drake failed to provide proper evidence for his claim that they defamed him by distributing “Don’t Like Us,” a song that labeled Aubrey aaa the Child Predator.
“Petitioner [Drake] The request to sell iHeartMedia and UMG is to investigate the relationship between iHeartMedia and UMG,” the filing reads. However, the petitioners did not describe why any alleged agreement between IheartMedia and UMG was being investigated, respecting “unlike us,” which necessitated the deposition of IheartMedia’s corporate representatives and UMG’s corporate representatives. Without such an explanation, petitioners have failed to identify any possible benefit of pre-installation deposition of UMG plugs, let alone show that the benefits outweigh the burdens. “
UMG asked the judge to dismiss the case and seek reimbursement of attorney fees. The case will be heard in Bexar County Court on January 28.
READ MORE: The craziest allegations in Drake’s 81-page defamation lawsuit against UMG
Drake sues UMG in federal court
Last November, Drake filed two similar pre-action petitions against UMG, his and Kendrick Lamar’s parent label. The Canadian rap star filed a petition in New York, which he has since withdrawn, that accused UMG and Spotify of using bots and pay-to-play to enhance K-Dot’s Drake Diss. The aforementioned Texas petition accuses UMG of doing the same thing with the help of iHeartRadio and defamation.
On January 15, Drake filed a defamation lawsuit against UMG in federal court for “not being like us.” UMG responded to the lawsuit, telling XXL in part: “We do not and do not engage in defamation. Who could be the target of a frivolous lawsuit, directly or indirectly, because they did nothing to write the song.”
At least some legal experts say Drake will have a hard time proving his case in court.
