Drake's 'Not Like Us' lawsuit: Rapper's claims, from house shooting to devalued music

Drake has officially upped the ante in his battle over Kendrick Lamar's chart-topper "Not Like Us," with a new lawsuit accusing his and Lamar's music distributor of profiting off his defamation by releasing the diss track.

In the lawsuit, filed in New York federal court Wednesday and obtained by USA TODAY, Drake's legal team claimed that despite a decade-long relationship, Universal Music Group "intentionally sought to turn Drake into a pariah, a target for harassment, or worse." They also wrote the company sought to "profit from damaging Drake’s reputation."

Drake sued for defamation, second-degree harassment via promoting violence against him and deceptive business practices. "Not Like Us," he alleged, spreads defamatory claims about Drake, including that he engages in sexual relations with minors and sex trafficking and also harbors sex offenders.

In a statement to USA TODAY, UMG called Drake's claims "untrue," denying ever engaging in defamation. The spokesperson said, in part, that Drake is trying to "weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music."

" Beginning on May 4, 2024 and every day since, UMG has used its massive resources as the world’s most powerful music company to elevate a dangerous and inflammatory message that was designed to assassinate Drake’s character, and led to actual violence at Drake’s doorstep," Drake's legal team wrote in a statement to USA TODAY.

The Grammy winner previously issued a warning that he would be taking legal action back in November when he filed petitions in New York and Texas that accused Universal Music Group, Spotify and iHeartRadio of being part of a "scheme to ensure" Lamar's "Not Like Us," "broke through" on multiple streaming platforms. The "God's Plan" rapper asked the court to order the companies to hand over evidence related to his claims, otherwise known as pre-action discovery, so he could file a lawsuit.

Here are some of the biggest revelations from Drake's 80-page Jan. 15 lawsuit.

Security guard suffered 'serious' injuries after men shot at Drake's Toronto house

"Within days" of the release of "Not Like Us," Drake says "multiple strangers, including at least one armed with a deadly weapon, targeted" him.

Per the lawsuit, at 2 a.m. on May 7, "a group of men" allegedly fired at least two shots that went through the security fence of his Toronto home, with one bullet hitting the door and another "seriously" wounding a security guard.

"Drake and others in the house rushed to the man's aid, trying to keep him from bleeding out while the ambulance came," the lawsuit said. "The injuries he sustained were serious and, for two days, doctors were not sure if he would live."

Read more: Security guard shot at Drake's Toronto home, police say

Drake pulled son Adonis out of school 'due to safety concerns'

This shooting incident was allegedly followed by an attempted break-in at Drake's Toronto home the next day, as well as two breaches by a trespasser who entered the property on May 9 and 11. Toronto police said at the time that the break-in suspect was apprehended under the Ontario Mental Health Act and was not being investigated as a criminal case.

"These acts of violence against his residence, where Drake lives with his son, and against his business, are not normal. In all the years he has been a celebrity, nothing like the events of early May has ever happened to Drake before," his lawsuit said. "Drake has increased his security team in Toronto and everywhere he goes."

He'd also pulled his son, 7-year-old Adonis, out of his Toronto elementary school "due to safety concerns" and over the summer "arranged for his son and mother to leave Toronto entirely."

Universal Music sought to 'devalue' Drake's music for leverage in new deal, rapper claimed

Drake, who has had recording contracts controlled by UMG since 2009, also claimed the label used "Not Like Us" as leverage as Drake's contract with the company came to an end.

"UMG's contract with Drake was nearing fulfillment, and on information and belief, UMG anticipated that extending Drake's contract would be costly," the filing said. "By devaluing Drake's music and brand, UMG would gain leverage to force Drake to sign a new deal on terms more favorable to UMG."

By comparison, Interscope Records – which is under UMG and owns Lamar's music catalog – allegedly entered an exclusive direct licensing agreement with Lamar's independent label in 2024, per Drake's team. Universal Music Publishing Group controls music publishing rights for both Drake and Lamar.

Interscope "had every incentive to prove it could maximize Lamar’s sales after only recently persuading him to enter into his own direct license for a limited recording commitment of new music," the lawsuit alleged.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Drake lawsuit: The rapper's claims about 'Not Like Us' defamation