Drake just hit another setback in his legal fight over “Not Like Us.”
Two new legal briefs filed April 3 are backing UMG Recordings in its bid to keep Drake’s defamation lawsuit dismissed. The filings were submitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and ask the court to uphold an October 2025 ruling that found Kendrick Lamar’s diss track to be a protected opinion rather than defamatory.
One brief, filed by the Floyd Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression at Yale Law School, argued that Drake effectively invited the lyrics he later sued over.
“It is difficult to imagine a clearer call-and-response,” the filing states. The brief says Drake encouraged Lamar to bring up allegations during their public rap feud, then later objected when Lamar did exactly that in “Not Like Us.”
A second filing from legal scholars and social scientists argued that diss tracks are not meant to be taken literally.
“Diss track lyrics are far from factual representations,” the brief states. “This assumption is not just faulty. It is dangerous.”
Drake, a five-time Grammy winner known for hits like “Hotline Bling” and “God’s Plan,” sued UMG in January 2025 after claiming the company knowingly promoted false accusations in Lamar’s song.
Lamar, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2018, released “Not Like Us” during the pair’s explosive rap battle.