Drake Defamation Lawsuit Against UMG Over Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us' Dismissed

Drake just took a loss against his own record label because his federal defamation suit against Universal Music Group has been thrown out of court the judge ruled "the allegedly defamatory statements in 'Not Like Us' are non-actionable opinion." In other words, Drake can't sue for defamation over the song lyrics. Drake was suing UMG for releasing and promoting Kendrick Lamar's vicious diss track Drake claimed UMG knew full well Kendrick's lyrics and images in the music video, referring to Drake as a supposed pedophile, were false and dangerous. In dismissing the lawsuit, the judge says "even accusations of criminal behavior are not actionable if, understood in context, they are opinion rather than fact." the fact the allegations are part of a diss track and not a news report  means the average person would not interpret it as fact and therefore Drake can't sue. The judge also says the average listener is not under the impression a diss track is the product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation. The court also noted that Kendrick's pedophile line "was a direct callback to Drake's lyrics" in his previous diss track, "Taylor Made Freestyle."

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