"Falsely accusing him of being a s*x offender" — Drake's lawyers file a second lawsuit against UMG on grounds of defamation

Drake’s company filed a lawsuit in Texas accusing iHeartRadio of similar claims made in a New York case against UMG for allegedly boosting Lamar’s track on Spotify.

In the second lawsuit, rapper Drake has recently accused Universal Music Group of defamation in connection with the publishing of Kendrick Lamar's popular diss song, Not Like Us. On November 25, late Monday, he filed a pre-action lawsuit in a Texas court, alleging that UMG had the opportunity to stop the song's release which falsely claimed that he was a s*xual offender but they didn’t.

According to the report published by Billboard on November 26, his lawyers said:

“UMG … could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed.. But UMG chose to do the opposite. UMG designed, financed and then executed a plan to turn Not Like Us into a viral mega-hit with the intent of using the spectacle of harm to Drake…”

His lawyers further alleged:

“Before it approved the release of the song, UMG knew that the song itself... attacked the character of another one of UMG’s most prominent artists, Drake, by falsely accusing him of being a s*x offender, engaging in pedo*philic acts, harboring s*x offenders and committing other criminal s*xual acts...”

Along with allegations of deceit and deceptive advertising under New York state law, the lawsuit also claimed that the corporation has violated the federal RICO statute, which is frequently used to combat organized crime.

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Drake's attorneys claimed that Universal Music Group falsely accused the rapper

The Family Matters singer filed for a second petition (Image via Christopher Polk/AMA2016/Getty Images for dcp)

As per the same Billboard report, the legal petition filed by Drake’s attorneys further claimed that in exchange for Spotify marketing Not Like Us to consumers, UMG offered Spotify significantly lower licensing payments. The record label also allegedly used bots and influencer payments to inflate the track's streaming figures.

According to the complaint, in order to artificially boost the single, UMG also paid and colluded with some anonymous individuals. Drake further added that UMG decided to release Kendrick's song despite knowing that it "falsely" called him a "certified ped*phile" and "predator."

As to why they did it, Drake's legal team referred to the alleged internal UMG dynamics in which executive bonuses are dependent on the success of particular divisions rather than the overall performance of the company. They contended that this encouraged a division of the company to put Lamar's and Not Like Us' success ahead of that of other artists.

As part of a "pay-to-play scheme," UMG is also accused of sending money to iHeartRadio in return for radio promotion of the song in the new filing. Nevertheless, Lamar is not named as a respondent in any of the filings and is not charged with any misconduct directly.

Additionally, in the new petition, the singer also effectively charged the music company with unfairly favoring one of its musicians over the other through unlawful tactics.

According to the same billboard report, in a statement released Monday evening, November 25, in response to the initial petition, UMG said:

"It is offensive and false to imply that UMG would take any action to discredit any of its artists. Our marketing and advertising initiatives utilize the most ethical techniques. Fans choose the music they want to hear, and this pre-action submission's fabricated and ridiculous legal reasons cannot change that.”

According to his attorneys, the OVO artist tried to resolve the matter with UMG in private. The rapper has also reportedly made several attempts to speak with the company about resolving the continuous suffering that he has endured.

However, the label allegedly refused to accept any responsibility. They also reportedly fired the employees who were "thought to have loyalty to Drake." They further apparently responded by proposing that Drake sue Lamar instead. They also said:

"UMG insisted that it is not accountable for its own actions and declined to participate in negotiations."

On the other hand, neither iHeartRadio nor UMG has officially commented on the new filing.