Lucian Grainge Slams Drake’s ‘Not Like Us’ Lawsuit as “Groundless and Ridiculous”

UMG chief fires back after months of silence, calling rapper’s defamation claims over Kendrick Lamar diss track “farcical” and “nonsensical” in court filing.

NEW YORK | After months of silence, Universal Music Group chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge has broken his public silence in the legal battle with Drake, issuing a sharp rebuttal to the rapper’s defamation lawsuit over the release of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”

In a declaration filed late Thursday with the Southern District of New York — and obtained by 'TELL IT LIKE IT IS' Entertainment News — Grainge called Drake’s claims that he orchestrated a plot to damage the Canadian superstar’s brand “farcical,” “nonsensical,” and “indeed ridiculous.”

Drake’s lawsuit, filed earlier this year, alleges that Grainge and UMG were complicit in promoting and releasing “Not Like Us” — a track Lamar dropped through UMG’s Interscope Records division — as part of a larger scheme to tarnish Drake’s reputation following their high-profile rap battle. The rapper’s attorneys have sought UMG’s contract with Lamar and details of unverified allegations against him, pointing to supposed internal coordination at the label.

Grainge dismissed the accusations outright, noting that UMG has invested “hundreds of millions of dollars” into Drake’s career, including purchasing the majority of his recording catalog and music publishing rights. “The proposition that I was involved in… reviewing and approving the content of ‘Not Like Us’… or directing the promotion of those materials is groundless,” Grainge wrote.

The British music executive emphasized that as CEO of a publicly traded, multi-national corporation operating in over 60 countries, his responsibilities involve global strategic oversight — not micromanaging individual track releases. “I had never heard ‘Not Like Us,’ nor seen the cover art or music video, until after their release,” Grainge asserted.

In a separate filing, UMG’s legal team characterized Drake’s motion as “a transparent attempt” to harass the label and force unnecessary discovery, calling the idea that Grainge personally influenced a diss track “absurd.”

The legal fight is the latest high-profile clash in the ongoing Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar feud — one that has spilled far beyond music streaming platforms and into the courts, potentially reshaping the intersection of artistic expression, corporate music politics, and celebrity litigation.

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-- By Lakisha Brown

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