Just one day after accusing his own label of artificially inflating the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’, Drake has filed a second legal petition against Universal Music Group (UMG). This time, he claims the company should have prevented the release of a song “falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts, harboring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts.”
“UMG … could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed,” Drake’s lawyers wrote, per Billboard. “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 and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, massive revenues. That plan succeeded, likely beyond UMG’s wildest expectations.”
The filing also accuses UMG of funneling payments to iHeart as part of a “pay-to-play scheme” to promote the song on radio.
Responding to the Canadian rapper’s allegations in a statement on Monday, UMG said: “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”