Drake Compares "Not Like Us" to Pizzagate in UMG Defamation Lawsuit

In Drake's new defamation suit against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us," the Toronto rapper's legal team compared the diss song and the ensuing response to the infamous "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory.

On Wednesday, Drake withdrew his legal petition against UMG and Spotify and followed up the move by filing a defamation lawsuit against the company for "Not Like Us."

He has alleged that UMG published the track despite knowing it contained "defamatory material." In one portion of the 81-page complaint, which has been viewed by Complex, Drake's lawyers argued that the diss track "yielded real world consequences," referring to multiple intrusions at his Toronto property in the days after the song dropped.

"Drake was targeted at his Toronto house by armed intruders in the 2024 equivalent of 'Pizzagate,'" the lawsuit reads. "The online response was similarly violent and hateful. An avalanche of online hate speech has branded Drake as a sex offender and pedophile, among other epithets. Public commentary has repeated the (false) claims that Drake is a 'pedo' and 'sexual abuser on the level of Weinstein, Diddy, and Epstein' who 'traffic[]s children' in shipping containers and harbors convicted 'sex offenders' in his Toronto home"

The lawsuit suggests that Drake has faced "palpable physical threat" following the release of the song.

"Drake fears for the safety and security of himself, his family, and his friends," the lawsuit reads. "After the attacks on his home, Drake pulled his son out of the elementary school he attended in Toronto due to safety concerns, and once school ended for the summer, Drake arranged for his son and mother to leave Toronto entirely. Day to day, Drake continues to take steps to address persistent threats to his security."

Later in the legal documents, "Pizzagate" was again referenced.

"Incidents like 2016's Pizzagate show how accusing someone of being a pedophile and/or of committing crimes against children can quickly spin out of control into a viral conspiracy and acts of real physical violence," the document continues.

The turmoil of the 2016 presidential election spurred the conspiracy theory, which accused Democratic Party members of running a child sex trafficking ring in Washington, D.C., restaurants.

In 2016, Edgar Maddison Welch was determined enough to "investigate" the theory and walked into Comet Ping Pong, a pizza restaurant, and fired his assault rifle to break a locked door. Welch, who was sentenced to four years in prison for the incident, died last week after police shot him during a traffic stop.

Just days after the release of "Not Like Us," police investigated a reported shooting outside of Drake's Toronto house that resulted in the injury of one of his security guards. One day later, an intruder was detained after attempting to break into the property. A second intruder followed the next day, and Drake's security stopped a third person within the same week. A motive has not been determined for any of the incidents.