Judge dismisses Drake defamation suit over Not Like Us lyrics

U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas on Thursday dismissed Drake's defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group, ruling that lyrics in Kendrick Lamar's diss track Not Like Us are protected opinion and not actionable as libel. The decision, handed down in the Southern District of New York, ends a suit filed in January in which the Canadian rapper accused his own label of publishing and promoting false allegations that he is a pedophile during a widely publicized rap battle.

Vargas said the broader context of the 16-day exchange of diss tracks between Drake and Lamar was central to how a reasonable listener would interpret the lyrics. The judge wrote that "the average listener is not under the impression that a diss track is the product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public factchecked verifiable content," and that the song's profanity, hyperbole and confrontational tone indicate opinion rather than factual assertion.

Drake's amended complaint alleged that Universal, which distributes Drake through Republic Records and Lamar through Interscope Records, knowingly promoted Not Like Us while aware that its insinuations were false and harmful. The...