During his Super Bowl halftime performance, Kendrick Lamar added fuel to the fire amid Drake's lawsuit against UMG.
Lamar teased the intro to his hit diss track "Not Like Us" but cut it short, saying, "I want to perform their favorite song, but you know they love to sue," which appeared to be in reference to the Canadian rapper launching a lawsuit against UMG over the diss track. In the suit, he accuses the label of defamation, harassment, and shady business practices regarding the promotion of the song.
Of course, Lamar couldn't let the audience down and performed the song anyway. He even delivered the scathing "Say Drake, I heard you like 'em young" lyric with a smile while making eye contact with the camera. He did not say "pedophile" on-air, however.
Prior to the performance, Drake's legal team released a statement obtained by New York Times culture reporter Joe Coscarelli, which reads, "UMG is masquerading as a champion of artistic freedom by calling its actions merely 'entertainment', but there is nothing entertaining about pedophilia or child abuse in the real world."
It further goes on to say, "We are confident that the evidence we will ultimately present at trial, including information we've already learned and continue to receive since filing the lawsuit, will expose UMG's gross prioritization of its own corporate profits and executive bonuses over its exclusively signed artists' well-being and the truth."
Back in 2024, the Super Bowl drew in over 60 million viewers.
Drake is currently in Australia on his Anita Max Win tour, missing Lamar's Grammy sweep and Halftime performance on American soil. It’s looking likely that the halftime show will make its way into court proceedings.
