Overview
- Universal Music Group filed an 83-page brief Friday, calling Drake’s appeal “astoundingly hypocritical” and urging the Second Circuit to keep his lawsuit dismissed.
- Judge Jeannette A. Vargas tossed the case in October 2025, finding Kendrick Lamar’s lyric was nonactionable opinion given the context of a heated rap battle.
- UMG argues a reasonable listener would hear hyperbole in a diss track rather than a verifiable claim and says Drake has taken the opposite stance on lyrics in the past.
- Drake’s January appeal says the “certified pedophile” line states a provable fact and claims UMG promoted the song in a way that led millions to believe it was true.
- Drake’s reply is due April 17, after which the court may set oral argument or decide on the filings in a case that could set guidance for artists, labels, and platforms.