Influencer claims Drake took $2M to follow his companies, let him meet Jenna Ortega, and appear in his music video, but he got scammed

A social media influencer who recently appeared on internet personality DJ Akademiks' livestream accused Drake of scamming him of $2 million. The 20-year-old influencer, who introduced himself as Julian (@julianxceo on Instagram), claimed musical artist Top5 and the Canadian rapper allegedly hatched a plot to scam him of his money in exchange for follows. He also alleged he had proof in the form of voice notes and text messages.

The influencer claimed he was in contact with Top5, who connected him with the 6 God rapper. They reportedly struck a deal where Top5 said the Canadian rapper would follow the influencer on social media, introduce him to actress Jenna Ortega, and appear in his music video for $2 million.

"The deal was Drake follows me, follows all of my companies more importantly, so if I have Drake following I can use it to market my companies better. He was supposed to introduce me to Jenna Ortega for free, he was supposed to be in my music video and post me. That's it," the inflencer claimed.

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Influencer played voice notes that Drake allegedly sent to him

During the livestream with Akademiks, Julian claimed he allegedly sent the One Dance rapper $500K on BTC, after which the rapper followed him on Instagram. Later that day, he reportedly wired him the remaining balance to another account.

The influencer, who claims to live in Dubai, stated that the rapper allegedly showed him proof of receiving only $700K out of the $2 million. The influencer alleged Top5 took the remaining amount and fled to Toronto. He added that Drake allegedly unfollowed him after receiving the payment.

During the livestream, Julian also played a voice note from someone he claimed was the Canadian rapper. In the voice note, the person, allegedly Drake, promised to involve the influencer in his business if he "stopped doing all the dumb s**t you're doing."

"You have a direct line to me. If you want to make money for real, just get your money back, enjoy the rest of the year, these things take time, not built in a day or week," the voice note said.

It is unclear when the alleged event occurred.

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Court dates announced for Drake's petitions against UMG

Drake surprised the music industry when he dropped two petitions against the music giant Universal Music Group (UMG) over claims of "artificially inflating" Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us. The track was released as the penultimate song in the rap battle between the Canadian rapper and Lamar between April and May 2024.

Not Like Us's immense popularity saw the song dominate the music charts for weeks. However, Drake's petition, filed on November 25, alleged that the song's popularity was not organic, claiming UMG and Spotify allegedly colluded to illegally boost it using bots and payola.

“UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices. It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves," the petition claimed.

According to HipHop DX, a hearing for the petition, filed in New York, is scheduled for January 16, 2025. Drizzy is reportedly asking the court to order the companies to maintain documents relating to the track's promotion.

The Canadian rapper filed a second petition, claiming that UMG and iHeartRadio had allegedly worked together to boost Not Like Us on the radio. This petition also accused UMG of defamation, claiming the music giant allowed the song to be released when it “falsely accus[es] him of being a s*x offender.”

HipHop DX also reported that a hearing for this petition, filed in Texas, will be held on December 20. During the hearing, the Canadian rapper would be allowed to depose people from UMG and iHeartRadio to question them about the alleged illegal boosting of Not Like Us.