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The legal battle between Grammy Award-winning rapper Drake and Universal Music Group (UMG) is intensifying, his lawyer claims that the record label has been aware of the defamation lawsuit since July 2024.
On February 24, 2025, Canadian rapper's attorney Michael J. Gottlieb filed a four-page motion in response to Universal Music Group's (UMG) request to postpone the pretrial conference scheduled for April 2, 2025.
In the motion, Gottlieb argued that UMG had failed to provide sufficient evidence to justify the delay. The attorney's statement read —
"UMG's Request to Adjourn is unsupported by the law or the facts-indeed, UMG does not cite a single case suggesting, let alone holding, that adjournment is appropriate under these circumstances," the attorney stated.
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The legal conflict between Canadian rapper Drizzy and UMG began before Thanksgiving 2024. Drake filed a pre-action notice in a New York court accusing UMG of unlawfully promoting Kendrick Lamar's song Not Like Us. The formal lawsuit was filed on January 15, 2025.
Drake's legal action against Universal Music Group advances to pretrial hearing amid UMG's request to hold:
On Monday, February 24, 2025, Drake's legal team, led by Michael J. Gottlieb, submitted a four-page motion to the Southern District of New York, asserting that Universal Music Group was aware of the lawsuit as early as July 24, 2024.
The motion further states that before initiating litigation, Drake's counsel engaged in multiple discussions with the music label, with formal notice of the intent to sue being delivered by Drizzy's attorney on September 16, 2024 —
"Plaintiff first notified UMG regarding his legal claims on July 24, 2024, and counsel conferred a number of times regarding those claims prior to initiating this litigation. By no later than September 16, 2024, UMG had actual notice that Plaintiff intended to sue UMG regarding these claims," the statement reads.
Additionally, UMG's request to delay the pretrial conference was denied by Gottlieb as he filed to hold the conference as scheduled.
The motion further indicates that UMG's counsel has informed Drake's lawyer of their intention to file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and may seek an extension. However, UMG has not yet confirmed either action —
"UMG's counsel has disclosed to Plaintiff's counsel that UMG intends to file a motion to dismiss, and that UMG may well seek an extension of its deadline to make that filing (though UMG has not actually committed to either)," the statement reads.
Furthermore, in the motion, Drizzy's attorney stated that they contacted UMG's counsel on February 6, 2025, to discuss availability for the hearing. However, UMG's counsel failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the need for a delay —
"On February 6, 2025, Plaintiff emailed UMG asking for availability for a 26(1) Conference. Ex. 1 at 5. UMG's counsel did not provide any reason why it would not be "practicable" to hold a 26(1) Conference," the statement further read.
Currently, Universal Music Group and their legal team have not yet responded to the claims made by Drake's attorney. The pretrial conference remains scheduled for April 2, 2025, with no changes as of February 25, 2025.
This is a developing story and updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
