Stephen A. Smith Says He's 'Torn' on Drake's Defamation Lawsuit

Stephen A. Smith has shared his thoughts on Drake's defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us."

The Canadian rapper alleged the track encouraged listeners to enact "vigilante justice" on him by accusing him of being a pedophile.

"He's gone ahead and filed a lawsuit against his own record company, Universal Music Group, for Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us,'" Smith said in the opening of his eponymous show, seen in the clip above. "On the song, Lamar calls Drake a pedophile and accuses him of appropriating Black culture. ... Ladies and gentlemen, I'm torn. I want to be very sensitive to this subject because I'm a product of the hip-hop genre and what have you."

The sports analyst suggested that because he appreciates hip-hop as a genre, he's always believed that artists should keep their beef strictly to the music.

"Handle your business in that studio," he said. "See, Drake got sensitive with a lot of people. When he went after DeMar DeRozan, talking about he would not go for his jersey being hung in the rafters. He was put off by LeBron James dancing to [Kendrick's] music. When DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook and these brothers were on stage while Kendrick Lamar was performing 'Not Like Us.' They are from Compton! Not LeBron, but they from L.A.! That's not a crime! So in that regard, I thought Drake was tripping."

Smith said Drake should have just kept responding to K.Dot with new diss records.

"He got you today that don't mean he got you next week," he continued. "And if he got you, he got you. But if you got something better, something that eclipse 'Not Like Us,' do that because Drake, you that great. You that special. What's the problem? Get in the studio and handle it like that! You don't handle it in the courtroom, that's not how you address contention in the hip-hop industry when it comes to actual records being made."

Smith said that following the release of "Not Like Us," Drake essentially had two options: stand down and admit defeat, or release another diss track.

"But I'ma tell y'all where Drake hits me, and my sensitive side, dare I say, comes into play," he continued. "When you have to move your child and a mother out of elementary school, when he's being threatened in school. When the mother and the child have to move out of Toronto, according to the reports that's what it says, for safety reasons. When you've been accused and people think there's validity, not just lyrical dissection, but literally they're attaching legitimacy to allegations and accusations of you being a pedophile? Then it gets a little dicey."

He said that he doesn't think it's a crime for UMG to make profit from "Not Like Us," considering both artists are on the label, but he does believe the company could have been more sensitive.

"Their attitude is they probably were expecting you to come back with even more material to go at him with, and they could make money off both of y'all," he said.

Smith added that he "understands where Drake is coming from," but he still maintains that he shouldn't have filed the lawsuit.

"I can see both sides of this," Smith said. "I still wouldn't do it, but that's me. But I understand why Drake would feel differently about this."

In the lawsuit, Drake's legal team suggested that he faced "palpable physical threat" following the release of "Not Like Us."

"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."

Last month, Smith urged Drake to hop back in the studio.

"You're a phenomenal artist. You're big time," he said. "I didn't sit up there and say you can't answer Kendrick Lamar. I said, 'You better figure out a way to do so,' meaning you have the capability, I think, to pull it off. That's all!"