Drake and iHeartMedia Inc. have reached a settlement in the lawsuit Drake filed against the company, which owns iHeartRadio, over an alleged pay-to-play arrangement intended to boost Kendrick Lamar’s song “Not Like Us.” According to court records, the settlement resolves the legal dispute between the two parties.
In a statement provided to Pitchfork, iHeartMedia clarified that the settlement came after the release of documents proving that the company had not engaged in any wrongdoing. The statement further emphasized that no financial transactions took place between the two parties. “In exchange for documents that showed iHeart did nothing wrong, Drake agreed to drop his petition. No payments were made—by either one of us,” the company said.
Drake’s lawsuit accused iHeartMedia of unlawfully accepting payments from Universal Music Group (UMG), the label that represents both Drake and Kendrick Lamar. The suit alleged that this violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Additionally, Drake’s petition, filed in Bexar County, Texas, claimed that UMG should have prevented the release of Lamar’s track “Not Like Us,” arguing that the song falsely portrayed him as a sex offender and accused him of engaging in pedophilic acts, harboring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts.
Although the legal matter with iHeartMedia has been resolved, Drake is still pursuing a separate federal lawsuit against UMG. In this case, he claims that the release of “Not Like Us” was an act of harassment and defamation.
According to The Associated Press, Drake’s attorneys stated in court documents that the dispute between Drake and iHeartMedia has been “amicably resolved.”
Leave a Comment