Drake settles legal action against iHeartMedia in dispute over 'Not Like
Us'
[March 01, 2025]
By JUAN A. LOZANO
HOUSTON (AP) — Drake has reached a settlement with Texas-based
iHeartMedia in his ongoing legal dispute over Kendrick Lamar’s diss
track “Not Like Us,” according to court records.
In November, Drake filed a legal petition in Bexar County, Texas, where
San Antonio is located, alleging that iHeartMedia had received illegal
payments from Universal Music Group to boost radio airplay for “Not Like
Us.” UMG is the parent record label for both Drake and Lamar.
The petition, a precursor to a potential lawsuit, had sought depositions
from corporate representatives of both companies.
In a court document filed Thursday, attorneys for Drake said the rapper
and iHeartMedia had “reached an amicable resolution of the dispute” but
did not offer any other information.
“We are pleased that the parties were able to reach a settlement
satisfactory to both sides, and have no further comment on this matter,”
Drake’s legal team said in a statement.
In an email Friday, iHeartMedia declined to comment on the settlement.
The claims against UMG remain active, and a hearing on a motion by UMG’s
lawyers to dismiss the petition was scheduled to be held Wednesday in a
San Antonio courtroom.
Drake has alleged UMG engaged in “irregular and inappropriate business
practices” to get radio airplay for “Not Like Us.” The petition also
alleges that UMG knew “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.”
An email to a UMG representative seeking comment was not immediately
answered.
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In this combination of images Rapper Kendrick Lamar appears at the
MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 27, 2017, in Inglewood, Calif., left,
and Canadian rapper Drake appears at the premiere of the series
"Euphoria," in Los Angeles on June 4, 2019. (AP Photos/Chris
Pizzello, File)
In January, Drake filed a defamation lawsuit in federal court in New
York City against UMG over what he alleges are false allegations of
pedophilia made in “Not Like Us.” Lamar is not named in the lawsuit.
The feud between Drake, a 38-year-old Canadian rapper and singer and
five-time Grammy winner, and Lamar, a 37-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner
who headlined the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 9, is among the
biggest in hip-hop in recent years.
The Federal Communications Commission sent a letter Monday to
iHeartMedia's CEO and chairman, Robert Pittman, saying the commission is
looking into whether the audio company is forcing musicians to perform
at its May country music festival in Austin for reduced pay in exchange
for favorable airplay of their songs on iHeart radio stations.
“We look forward to demonstrating to the Commission how performing at
the iHeartCountry Festival – or declining to do so – has no bearing on
our stations’ airplay," iHeart Media said in a statement. "We do not
make any overt or covert agreements about airplay with artists
performing at our events."
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