Drake could attempt to stop Kendrick Lamar from performing his viral diss track, "Not Like Us," at the upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show. The move would have to come as an injunction along with his impending defamation lawsuit over the song against Universal Music Group. Monique, an attorney from the Givens & Larmond Law Group, explained the steps Drake would need to take in a video for The Shade Room.
"As us lawyers like to say, it depends," she began. "What does it depend on? If Drake were to file an injunction, he may be able to stop Kendrick from performing the song that way; however, he would have to get the court to agree and grant the injunction. But, a lot of courts are reluctant to injunctions, especially that are related to defamation lawsuits, because they do not want to impede on our First Amendment rights, which is the right to free speech."
Kendrick Lamar Performs "Not Like Us" During The Pop Out
Drake filed his pre-action petitions in Manhattan and Texas court on Monday. In the first filing, he alleged that UMG and Spotify worked together to artificially boost the popularity of Kendrick Lamar's viral diss track, "Not Like Us." "UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices,” lawyers for Drake wrote. "It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves." In the second filing, he accused them of defamation for not halting the release of "Not Like Us," which he said contains various untrue allegations.
Drake's Legal Action Explained
The NFL announced Lamar as the headliner for the halftime show, earlier this year. Seeing as "Not Like Us" has quickly become one of the biggest hits of Lamar's career, fans are expecting him to perform the track during the game. Check out the full breakdown of Drake's legal case below. Be on the lookout for further updates on HotNewHipHop.
[Via]