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Sir Lucian Grainge and Mustard attend the 67th Annual Grammy Awards
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Key Takeaways:
- Lucian Grainge called Drake’s defamation lawsuit “farcical” and denied any role in promoting “Not Like Us.”
- Drake’s legal team demanded Universal Music Group hand over Kendrick Lamar’s contract and Grainge’s emails.
- The case highlights growing tensions between artists and labels over creative control and public image.
Lucian Grainge is not pleased with Drake. The CEO of the Universal Music Group minced no words when he responded to the Toronto rapper’s recent demand pertaining to his defamation lawsuit against the corporation.
On Thursday (Aug. 14), as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Grainge filed a declaration letter with the Southern District of New York and scorched Drizzy’s desire to obtain documents pertaining to UMG’s relationship with Kendrick Lamar.
The 6 God is claiming that UMG essentially conspired against him when it promoted K. Dot’s hit diss record, which calls him a “certified pedophile.” In court filings submitted on Tuesday (Aug. 12), Drake’s legal team demanded an unredacted version of Lamar’s Interscope Records contract as well as Grainge’s emails and text messages pertaining to “Not Like Us” as part of the discovery process in his lawsuit. The documents also alleged that the company sought to devalue Drake’s brand in an effort to gain leverage ahead of a potential contract extension.
However, in his letter, Grainge says he had no intention to “devalue” Drake’s brand via “Not Like Us.” Instead, he argues that saying so “makes no sense” since UMG has “invested hundreds of millions of dollars” into the Views artist, “including longstanding and critical financial support for his recording career, the purchase and ownership of the bulk of his recording catalog, and the purchase of his music publishing rights.”
The end of the letter seems particularly damning for Drake. “Given my role, I am accustomed (and unfortunately largely resigned) to personal attacks,” the CEO writes. “I further recognize that a frequent strategy of UMG’s litigation opponents is to attempt to waste my and UMG’s time and resources with discovery of the sort that Drake is seeking here — either in an attempt to gain media attention or in an effort to force some kind of commercial renegotiation or financial concessions.”
The music executive then asserted that he was too busy running a global company to be involved in the minutiae of marketing “Not Like Us.” In fact, he noted that he heard the song — as well as saw the cover art and music video — at the same time the rest of the world did.
“Whilst, as part of my role, I certainly have financial oversight of and responsibility for UMG’s global businesses, the proposition that I was involved in, much less responsible for, reviewing and approving the content of ‘Not Like Us,’ its cover art or music video, or for determining or directing the promotion of those materials, is groundless and indeed ridiculous,” Grainge wrote.
UMG continues to deny any wrongdoing. The company is requesting that Drake’s motion be denied and pushing that the case be dismissed entirely.
