Drake is directly targeting several executives at Universal Music Group in his defamation case against the company, according to AllHipHop. In doing so, he's accusing them of defamation and harassment while citing alleged deceptive business practices. Drake alleges the group used “covert tactics” to artificially improve the success of Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us," which he says contains defamatory lyrics intended to damage his public image. On the song, Lamar famously labels Drake an alleged "certified pedophile." He also references Lamar's performance at the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show.
The Toronto rapper mentions tons of executives. They include: Ramon Alvarez Smikle, executive vice president and head of digital marketing at Interscope; Jordan Bell, urban influencer and content marketing at Interscope; Steve Berman, president of marketing at Interscope; Anthony Bucher and his company Hitmaker Services Inc.; Tiffany Bullock, senior manager of influencer and content marketing at Interscope; and Jesse Collins of Roc Nation. Additionally, he names Kojo Menne Asamoah, who he finally served after over a dozen attempts, earlier this month, as well as UMG's iconic CEO, Sir Lucian Grainge.
From there, he also references Bill Evans, EVP of urban promotion at Interscope; David Isaac Friley; Jody Gerson, CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group; John Janick, CEO of Interscope; David Kaefer, VP and head of music and audiobooks at Spotify USA; Andrew Kronfeld, EVP of marketing at UMG; Annie Lee, COO of Interscope; Avery Lipman, president of Republic Records; Monte Lipman, CEO of Republic Records; Faatimah Mahadi, marketing coordinator at Interscope; Greg Marella, president of promotion and EVP at Capitol Music Group; and Nicole Wyskoarko, president and head of urban A&R at Interscope.
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Drake "Iceman" Album
As for damages, the filing states: “For his deceptive business practices claim, Plaintiff seeks statutory and actual damages in an amount to be determined at trial based on expert opinion and analysis, plus treble damages and attorneys’ fees and costs pursuant to Section 349 of the New York General Business Law, as well as prejudgment and post-judgment interest.”
In other news, Drake is currently at work on his ninth studio album, Iceman. He put out the first lead single, "What Did I Miss?," back on July 5th and followed that up by collaborating with Central Cee on "Which One" on July 25th.
Drake has not shared an official release date for the project, but has teased that it's coming "soon" in several cryptic messages in recent months. Additionally, Texas A&M legend Johnny Manziel hinted at it releasing some time in either October or November, last week.
