Drake has reached a private settlement with iHeartMedia after he sued the Texas-based radio company amid his ongoing claims that his record label Universal Music Group (UMG) made “covert payments” to promote airplay of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.”
The settlement was confirmed in a court filing in Bexar County, Texas. “Petitioner and iHeartMedia, Inc. have reached an amicable resolution of the dispute to the satisfaction of both sides,” the filing obtained by Rolling Stone reads. In his underlying petition, the rapper had sought oral depositions of iHeartMedia corporate representatives.
“In exchange for documents that showed iHeart did nothing wrong, Drake agreed to drop his petition. No payments were made – by either one of us,” a source at iHeartMedia tells Rolling Stone. In a separate statement, Drake’s legal team said, “We are pleased that the parties were able to reach a settlement satisfactory to both sides and have no further comment on this matter.”
UMG, the parent company for both Drake and Lamar, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Drake separately sued UMG for defamation in January, alleging the company launched a campaign to make “Not Like Us” a viral hit while knowing the song contained the “false” allegation that Drake is a “criminal pedophile.” (Lamar was not named as a defendant.) UMG has a March 17 deadline to file a possible motion to dismiss the defamation claim.
In court filings, Drake has alleged that UMG Recordings “funneled payments to iHeartRadio and its radio stations as part of a pay-to-play scheme.” Drake said he already had “sufficient” evidence to pursue a defamation claim but lacked the “factual support necessary to determine whether he may bring claims of civil fraud and racketeering against UMG.” His filing in Texas alleged that UMG and unidentified co-conspirators “violated payola laws.”
“Before it approved the release of the song, UMG knew that the song itself, as well as its accompanying album art and music video, attacked the character of another one of UMG’s most prominent artists, Drake, by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts, harboring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts,” Drake’s petition seeking the depositions reads. “Specifically, the song calls Drake a ‘certified pedophile,’ a ‘predator,’ and someone whose name should ‘be registered and placed on neighborhood watch.’”
The battle between Drake and Lamar has become one of the hip-hop industry’s biggest feuds. Lamar performed “Not Like Us” at the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 9, and the beef was the subject of a joke at the Academy Awards on Sunday night.
From Rolling Stone US
