Drake’s lawyers are trying to get their hands on emails and text messages that Universal Music Group (UMG) chief executive Lucian Grainge allegedly sent about the chart-topping Kendrick Lamar diss track “Not Like Us.”
Attorneys for the Canadian superstar (Aubrey Drake Graham) want to make Grainge a key witness in their lawsuit accusing UMG of plotting to boost the popularity of “Not Like Us,” Lamar’s hit 2024 Interscope Records track that called Drake a “certified pedophile.” Interscope is a subsidiary of UMG, as is Drake’s label, Republic Records.
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The case is now in the discovery phase of litigation, in which each side sifts through its documents and turns over relevant files to the other. But UMG has refused to produce Grainge’s emails and texts to Drake’s lawyers, insisting that its CEO had “no meaningful involvement” in the release or promotion of “Not Like Us.”
Now, Drake’s team is seeking a court order that would force UMG to turn over Grainge’s files. In a motion filed Tuesday (Aug. 12), attorney Michael Gottlieb says the company’s refusal “is unsupported by law and would prejudice plaintiff’s ability to test and prove his claims.”
“Plaintiff’s amended complaint contains numerous allegations specific to Grainge, including his role in and knowledge of the scheme to defame and harass plaintiff, and UMG’s use of deceptive business practices regarding the same,” writes Gottlieb. “UMG’s insistence on shielding Grainge from document discovery is unfair, unwarranted and inconsistent with fundamental principles of discovery.”
Gottlieb says in the motion that Grainge holds a “position of control” over artists like Lamar and that, as CEO, he approved the release and promotion of “Not Like Us.” As for Grainge’s supposed motivation for defaming Drake, Gottlieb says the executive is “well known for the encouragement of competition between the UMG record labels” and that the company had an incentive to devalue Drake’s brand in order to gain negotiating leverage ahead of upcoming contract extension talks.
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“If, as UMG claims, Grainge had ‘no meaningful involvement in the matters and decisions at issue in this litigation,’ then UMG will have little, if anything, to produce to plaintiff from his files, and the review process would impose minimal burden on UMG,” adds Gottlieb.
A rep for UMG did not immediately return a request for comment on the motion.
UMG has vehemently denied that it defamed Drake or did anything untoward in its promotion of “Not Like Us.” The company says Drake is just embarrassed after losing his very public rap battle with Lamar and is now trying to “save face” and “salve his wounds” with misguided litigation.
Judge Jeannette A. Vargas in New York federal court is currently weighing UMG’s motion to dismiss the case outright as legally invalid. The judge held a hearing earlier this summer, and her ruling could come any day now.