Drake lists 63 potential witnesses vs UMG
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Drake’s monster defamation lawsuit against UMG heats up as the rapper lists 63 potential witnesses he believes have evidence to help his case.
Drake’s legal team lists some high-profile names in a list of 63 potential witnesses amid evidence collection in the rapper’s defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG). The lawsuit stems from Kendrick Lamar’s record-breaking diss track, “Not Like Us,” of which Drake accuses UMG of boosting the popularity to generate beaucoup bucks.
The document, dated June 2, was made available to the public on July 14 as an attachment to Drake’s motion to subpoena a man whom the Toronto rapper claims paid bots to inflate streaming numbers for Kendrick Lamar’s mega-hit.
The individuals and companies named could be asked to hand over documents to Drake’s legal team as part of the evidence discovery process—though this does not necessarily mean any will be deposed or called to testify once the trial is underway.
Among the big wigs listed on the document include UMG CEO Lucian Grainge, Universal Music Publishing Group chief Jody Gerson, Interscope CEO John Janick, Republic co-founders Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman, and Top Dawg Entertainment president Dave Free. It also includes executives linked to companies like Spotify and the NFL.
Interestingly, Drake’s lawsuit does not and has not accused Kendrick Lamar himself of defamation, and he is not on the rapper’s potential witness list. Instead, Drake focuses on entities and executives who he believe possess details related to the “promotion and licensing of the defamatory material” and UMG’s “use of covert tactics to promote the defamatory material.”
Also attached as an exhibit to the motion are UMG’s initial disclosure and the music juggernaut’s witness list, dated March 24. That list is comically shorter—it names just nine potential witnesses, including Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
Meanwhile, UMG previously filed a motion to dismiss the case altogether, for which Judge Jeannette A. Vargas in New York federal court held a hearing at the end of June. Her upcoming ruling will determine whether Drake’s initial claims hold enough water to warrant moving forward in the first place.