Drake has suffered a legal defeat in his high-profile clash with Universal Music Group (UMG). The rapper’s federal defamation lawsuit — filed over Kendrick Lamar’s viral diss track “Not Like Us” — has officially been dismissed.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, the judge ruled that the allegedly defamatory statements in Kendrick’s song were “nonactionable opinion.” In simpler terms, lyrics in a diss record are considered expressive art, not factual claims, and therefore cannot form the basis of a defamation suit.
Drake had accused UMG — his own label — of releasing and promoting the track despite knowing that the lyrics and visuals portraying him as a “pedophile” were false and damaging. However, the court found that “even accusations of criminal behavior are not actionable if, understood in context, they are opinion rather than fact.”
The judge also emphasized that diss tracks are not viewed by the public as factual reporting, noting that “the average listener is not under the impression a diss track is the product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation.”
The court further noted that Lamar’s controversial line was “a direct callback to Drake’s lyrics” from his own response, “Taylor Made Freestyle.”
