"It's a weak lawsuit" - DJ Akademiks reacts to Drake's lawsuit against UMG over Kendrick Lamar ‘Not Like Us’ being dismissed

Media personality DJ Akademiks recently reacted to a U.S. judge tossing out Drake's defamation lawsuit against his record label Universal Music Group (UMG) involving Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us. For those uninformed, the Canadian rapper sued UMG in January 2025, accusing the record label of defaming him by promoting Not Like Us, where Lamar had described him as a "certified p*dophile" amid their intense rap battle in 2024.

In March 2025, UMG filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying that the filing was “no more than Drake’s attempt to save face for his unsuccessful rap battle.” On October 9, 2025, Judge Jeannette Vargas dismissed the Canadian rapper's lawsuit, stating that Lamar's claims of his rival being an alleged p*dophile in the diss track were a "nonactionable opinion” and therefore not defamatory in nature.

Akademiks shared his thoughts about the lawsuit and its dismissal during his Rumble livestream on October 9, calling Drake's lawsuit "weak." The internet personality, a well-known Drake supporter, added that while he did not like Lamar leveling a "false allegation" against the Canadian rapper, similar incidents were common in hip-hop.

Akademiks further added that he thought the Canadian rapper should have sued Lamar instead of the publisher, saying:

"This was always a weak a** lawsuit from the get-go. I like Drake, this is a weak lawsuit. It's a weak lawsuit, and if you listen to diss music...Listen, I don't like that there was a false allegation put against my guy. It's false. But such is the case with hip hop. People call people R-words. People say really nasty things about each other. So the idea of suing the publisher...I thought he should have sued Kendrick Lamar."

Elsewhere in his livestream, Akademiks suggested the lawsuit could have been a "landmark precedent case" if allowed to proceed. He also added that the suit could have worked against rappers in a rap battle, resulting in emcees suing each other as a result of their feelings "getting hurt."

He suggested that the judge handling the lawsuit did not want to set a precedent that anybody who got dissed could pursue a legal battle against their rivals, saying:

"If they allowed, or if they said Drake's legal battle is all the way fine...everybody is going to get sued, cause you have now opened Pandora's box. So I believe the judge did not want to open Pandora's box and basically said to Drake, 'Yo, this was this person's opinion more than it was a representation of the facts'...The judge stopped it at the first checkpoint and said, 'this is an opinion.'"

Drake's legal team will reportedly appeal the dismissal

Released in May 2024, Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us became the rapper's biggest song to date, earning him five Grammy awards. His headlining performance at the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show, where he performed the song, drew in 133.5 million viewers.

In January 2025, Drake filed a defamation lawsuit against UMG, accusing the record label of spearheading "a campaign to create a viral hit" out of Not Like Us, further spreading the "false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal p*dophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response."

In March 2025, the record label filed a motion to dismiss the rapper's lawsuit. A month later, the Canadian rapper filed an amended complaint, which included mentions of Lamar's Super Bowl performance and the 2025 Grammy Awards. Notably, Lamar was not mentioned as a co-defendant in the lawsuit.

On October 9, Judge Jeannette Vargas dismissed the lawsuit, calling the 2024 rap battle "the most infamous rap battle in the genre's history." The judgment further stated that the accusations in Not Like Us were part of "a heated rap battle, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by both participants."

“The issue in this case is whether Not Like Us can reasonably be understood to convey as a factual matter that Drake is a p*dophile or that he has engaged in s*xual relations with minors. In light of the overall context in which the statements in the recording were made, the court holds that it cannot,” the judgment read.

"Although the accusation that plaintiff is a p*dophile is certainly a serious one, the broader context of a heated rap battle, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by both participants, would not incline the reasonable listener to believe that 'Not Like Us' imparts verifiable facts about plaintiff," it added.

According to The Guardian, a spokesperson for the Canadian rapper said he and his legal team intend to appeal the ruling, “and we look forward to the Court of Appeals reviewing it.” Meanwhile, a spokesperson for UMG told Variety that the record label viewed the lawsuit as "an affront to all artists and their creative expression."

The spokesperson further added that UMG was "pleased" with the dismissal and looked forward to "continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”

Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar has not publicly commented on Drake's lawsuit against UMG. The one time he publicly referred to the lawsuit was during his Super Bowl halftime show in February 2025, where he told the audience, "I want to play their favorite song [Not Like Us]... but you know they love to sue."

About the author

With a strong love for the English language cultivated from a childhood filled with reading, Juhi aims to take her readers on a literary journey with every word she writes.

When she's not busy putting her pen to paper, Juhi can be found indulging in her hobbies, such as embroidering and crocheting, while binge-watching TV shows.

Know More

Edited by Juhi Marzia