Drake is apparently welcoming the prospect of legal discovery proceedings in his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group, with the rapper’s team stating he “has nothing to hide.”
The statement has been issued in response to Universal Music Group’s warning on Wednesday (April 16) that the artist should “be careful what you wish for” regarding the discovery process that the music giant claims would expose him to a legal discovery process.
“Drake welcomes discovery and has nothing to hide. It’s not Drake who should worry; it’s UMG’s current leadership. We look forward to hearing from Lucian Grainge, John Janick, and UMG employees under oath,” a spokesperson for Drake said in a new statement issued to MBW.
The exchange follows Drake’s filing of an amended complaint that added new allegations regarding Kendrick Lamar‘s performance during the Super Bowl LIX halftime show in February.
The 107-page filing (which you can read in full here) addresses the NFL’s decision to censor the words “certified pedophile” from Lamar’s performance of Not Like Us.
Drake’s legal team characterized this occurrence as “the first, and [hopefully] the last, Super Bowl halftime show orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist.”
“Drake is holding the largest music conglomerate in the world accountable for its actions and doing so without fear.”
Drake’s spokesperson
In response to the amended lawsuit, UMG warned that the recent ‘win’ secured by Drake’s representatives, the granting of a routine discovery motion, “will become a loss if this frivolous and reckless lawsuit is not dropped in its entirety because Drake will personally be subject to discovery as well.”
However, Drake’s representatives are now dismissing UMG’s recent statements as “a desperate attempt to spin the narrative and deflect from the truth.”
“Drake is holding the largest music conglomerate in the world accountable for its actions and doing so without fear,” the spokesperson for Drake said.
UMG earlier highlighted the legal actions made by Drake’s team, noting that proceedings initiated “with much fanfare and bluster” in Texas last November were “quietly dropped” on April 14.
“Drake welcomes discovery and has nothing to hide. It’s not Drake who should worry; it’s UMG’s current leadership.”
Drake’s spokesperson
Drake’s spokesperson said, “We dismissed the Texas discovery action because discovery will now proceed in New York. That’s not retreat, that’s victory. UMG dismissed its first amendment petition in Texas because it has no claim, that’s losing. And UMG knows the case against it is only getting stronger.”
Notably, the amended complaint modified certain allegations from Drake’s original January filing. It no longer includes specific claims quoting a “whistleblower” who allegedly said Interscope paid through third parties to use bots to generate 30 million Spotify streams for Lamar’s track shortly after its release.
Instead, the new filing suggests a more passive role by UMG, claiming that, “At minimum, UMG was aware that third parties were using bots to stream the recording and turned a blind eye, despite having the power to stop such behavior.”
UMG described these modifications last week as evidence that Drake’s team is “Fearful of being sanctioned by the court for asserting false allegations.”
Meanwhile, according to Drake’s spokesperson, “UMG said, ‘be careful what you ask for,’ Drake knows exactly what he asked for: the truth and accountability.”
Read the full statement attributed to Drake’s spokesperson below:
“UMG’s latest statement is a desperate attempt to spin the narrative and deflect from the truth: Drake is holding the largest music conglomerate in the world accountable for its actions and doing so without fear.
We dismissed the Texas discovery action because discovery will now proceed in New York. That’s not retreat, that’s victory. UMG dismissed its first amendment petition in Texas because it has no claim, that’s losing. And UMG knows the case against it is only getting stronger.
Drake welcomes discovery and has nothing to hide. It’s not Drake who should worry; it’s UMG’s current leadership. We look forward to hearing from Lucian Grainge, John Janick, and UMG employees under oath.
UMG claims to stand for creativity, but in fact exploits it and the artist community knows that. UMG drains artists for its profits, then discards them. Drake joins a growing chorus of artists raising questions about UMG’s leadership. The public and artists should be concerned about recent headlines involving UMG’s largest stakeholder that only reinforces the need for transparency all the way up to the Board of Director’s level.
UMG said, ‘be careful what you ask for,’ Drake knows exactly what he asked for: the truth and accountability.”
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