Drake’s lawyers seek UMG CEO’s emails and Kendrick Lamar contract details in next stage of UMG saga
The latest update in Drake’s defamation lawsuit sees his team aiming straight for UMG’s top boss.
Drake’s legal fight with Universal Music Group (UMG) continues to ramble on. This time, his lawyers are now pushing to gain access to UMG CEO Lucian Grainge’s emails and texts. They also want to get a copy of Kendrick Lamar’s recording contract, according to DMN.
A brief recap
We’ve already covered this story extensively, and for the sake of repeating ourselves, here’s what’s relevant:
Just this week, Drake’s team won approval to serve Kojo Menne Asamoah, a figure they believe holds insider knowledge of UMG’s promotional strategy for Lamar’s track “Not Like Us”. That track is at the heart of Drake’s defamation case against UMG, for their role in releasing and promoting a track that alleges he is a “certified pedophile”.
During the course of the lawsuit, the track has racked up several Grammy wins, hit 1 billion streams on Spotify, and soared in streams following Kendrick Lamar’s performance of it at this year’s Super Bowl. All of which is only likely to have amplified the alleged damage to Drake.
UMG was previously granted motion to dismiss the claim, but Drake’s team were still allowed to push through with greater discovery demands, including documents concerning the approval to release the track.
The full list of documents demanded can be found in the article below:
Why target Grainge?
So far, UMG has refused to hand over Grainge’s communications, insisting that he had “no meaningful involvement” in the release or promotion of “Not Like Us”. Drake’s lawyers aren’t buying it.
They argue Grainge was in a prime position to influence the track’s rollout as CEO of UMG, the parent company to both Drake’s and Kendrick’s labels. According to Drake’s camp, Grainge had a reason to boost the track’s exposure in order to damage and devalue Drake’s brand ahead of upcoming contract negotiation. And at the top of the tree, Grainge holds the role and knowledge needed in “the scheme to defame and harass” Drake.
Meanwhile, Grainge could still benefit from the track’s success through his connection to Kendrick’s label. The success of the track is something that Drake’s team claim has already cost him work, and other opportunities.
The discovery push
So far, UMG has been protecting Grainge from document discovery, but Drake’s lawyers call this “unfair, unwarranted, and inconsistent with the fundamental principles of discovery.” They say that if Grainge truly had no involvement, then providing the requested documents “would impose minimal burden on UMG”.
Beyond Grainge’s emails and texts, Drake’s legal team is also after:
- Interscope’s financial profit records (Kendrick Lamar’s label)
- The valuation of Kendrick Lamar’s catalog
- Compensation details for Interscope CEO John Janick
Presumably, gaining these details would give Drake’s team a clearer picture of whether UMG pushed the track at his expense for financial benefit. This means both through the profits earned by UMG’s subdivision label (Interscope) from the song’s success, and any potential rewards given to Interscope’s CEO for making it happen.
What’s next?
While the outcome of the case remains a far way off, one thing is for sure: with both sides digging in, the legal battle shows no signs of slowing. The real question is, just how long can it continue dragging on for?