Drake's legal team has listed 63 potential witnesses in its “initial disclosure” filing regarding the rapper's defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group. The case centers around an allegation that the company plotted to artificially boost the success of Kendrick Lamar's diss track, "Not Like Us," in which he called Drake a “certified pedophile.” They submitted the lengthy witness list on June 2, although it wasn't made public until July 14, according to Billboard.
While many of the witnesses are UMG employees, there are several high-profile names as well. For one, Drake alleges UMG CEO Sir Lucian Grainge is a source of information about “all causes of action” regarding the company. Additionally, former Top Dawg Entertainment president Dave Free and Lamar's manager, Anthony Saleh, both make the list. Notably, Lamar himself is absent.
Drake also asks Amazon Music, Apple, Deezer, SoundCloud, Spotify, and TIDAL to share details about UMG’s “promotion and licensing of the defamatory material” and alleged “use of covert tactics to promote the defamatory material.” TikTok, Twitch, YouTube and Instagram are named as well as the NFL, Fox and Roc Nation for their involvement in the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show.
As for UMG's potential witness list, it's considerably shorter, featuring just nine names. Both Drake and Kendrick Lamar are among them. “Lamar is likely to have discoverable information concerning the creation of the recording, image, and video, and the distribution and promotion of the recording and video,” UMG’s lawyers write.
Drake "Iceman" Album
The update on Drake's UMG lawsuit comes as he continues to work on his next studio album, Iceman. He dropped the first single from the project, “What Did I Miss?,” back on July 4th. It will mark his first solo album since his viral feud with Kendrick Lamar in 2024 and since 2023's For All the Dogs.
Despite beginning to promote the project, he still hasn't provided an official release date. He has only said it's "coming soon" and confirmed it'll drop before the end of 2025.
