Judge tosses Drake’s suit over Kendrick Lamar’s rap song calling him ‘certified pedophile’

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Decide tosses Drake’s swimsuit over Kendrick Lamar’s…

Legislation in Well-liked Tradition

Decide tosses Drake’s swimsuit over Kendrick Lamar’s rap music calling him ‘licensed pedophile’

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 14, 2025, 11:19 am CDT

An inexpensive listener would conclude that rapper Kendrick Lamar was “rapping hyperbolic vituperations” when he referred to as rapper and singer Drake a “licensed pedophile” in his 2024 music “Not Like Us,” a federal choose stated final week in an order tossing Drake’s defamation lawsuit over the assertion.

In an Oct. 9 order, U.S. District Decide Jeannette A. Vargas of the Southern District of New York referred to as Lamar’s lyrics “nonactionable opinion,” written amid “a heated rap battle, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by each individuals.”

Law360 and Reuters have protection, whereas the Volokh Conspiracy printed opinion highlights.

Drake had sued the Common Music Group for an alleged “defamation-for-profit technique” that included selling “Not Like Us” and arranging for Lamar to carry out it on the 2025 Tremendous Bowl. The Common Music Group has a division that additionally represents Drake.

Vargas granted the Common Music Group’s movement to dismiss your entire swimsuit, which included claims for defamation, harassment and misleading acts.

Drake plans to enchantment, a spokesperson instructed Law360 and Reuters.

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