Drake‘s legal team is piling on evidence they believe supports his previous claims that Universal Music Group played a key role in the global success of Kendrick Lamar‘s “Not Like Us” at the expense of his reputation.

In January, Blavity reported that Drake filed a lawsuit against his record label, alleging they helped boost “Not Like Us” with foul play. According to Variety, the Toronto native recently updated his defamation lawsuit with an amended filing against UMG on April 16. The original submission increased by 26 pages to highlight further incidents pertaining to K-Dot’s hit single that have further defamed his character to more people.

Court documents now mention the record label leveraged Lamar’s recent victories at the Grammys and Super Bowl halftime show to continue vilifying him and says this shows intentional harm.

“Drake’s amended complaint makes an already strong case stronger. UMG’s PR ‘spin’ and failed efforts to avoid discovery cannot suppress the facts and the truth,” Drake’s leading attorney Michael Gottlieb said in a statement to Variety. “With discovery now moving forward, Drake will expose the evidence of UMG’s misconduct, and UMG will be held accountable for the consequences of its ill-conceived decisions.”

Drake’s legal camp added these occasions because they both played “Not Like Us” live on air. The claim states that 133 million people tuned in to watch the 59th championship game, “including millions of children” unfamiliar with the record and “any of the songs that preceded it.”

His legal team noted that “it was the first, and will hopefully be the last, Super Bowl halftime show orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist.” They additionally said that Kendrick Lamar intentionally left out the word “pedophile” from his Super Bowl performance of “Not Like Us” to avoid defamation liability and because “on information and belief,” he would not have been allowed to perform otherwise. 

Drake’s counsel highlighted that the Grammy-winning track selected to accompany Lamar’s Song of the Year win at the awards ceremony, which 15 million viewers heard while the audience sang along. It was also noted that UMG had to consent to the tune being played. Moreover, during the live taping, UMG CEO Lucian Grainge was seen high-fiving and hugging Dr. Dre in the background of this moment, although a post-event YouTube clip doesn’t include the song.

UMG has pushed back against Drake’s ongoing legal actions, claiming his legal team is steering him toward “absurd” decisions. In a statement, the company pointed to a pattern of dramatic filings followed by quiet withdrawals and amendments filled with what they call “baseless allegations.”

“Drake, unquestionably one of the world’s most accomplished artists and with whom we’ve enjoyed a 16-year successful relationship, is being misled by his legal representatives into taking one absurd legal step after another,” the company declared. 

The company continued, “In Texas last November, his counsel instituted a legal proceeding with much fanfare and bluster. On Monday, they quietly dropped the case. In New York in January, Drake’s counsel filed a defamation lawsuit. Fearful of being sanctioned by the court for asserting false allegations, tonight they amended the complaint to withdraw them, only to add more baseless allegations.”

The multibillion-dollar enterprise ended its response by criticizing Drake’s legal team for committing “foolish and frivolous theatrics,” warning that a recent procedural win could quickly backfire if the lawsuit isn’t dropped. UMG argued that the ongoing legal actions in Texas and New York undermine artistic freedom and ultimately damage their client’s reputation and finances, insisting the remaining claims have no merit.

Earlier in April, Drake scored a legal win when the judge denied UMG’s attempt to pause discovery, allowing him to pursue documents like Lamar’s contracts and executive compensation details. Meanwhile, UMG will issue its own discovery requests as the case progresses.

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