<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a major setback for \u201ca minor<\/a>\u201d lawsuit.<\/p>\n Drake\u2019s defamation lawsuit<\/a> against his record label over Kendrick Lamar\u2019s hit diss track \u201cNot Like Us\u201d<\/a> was thrown out on Thursday by a federal judge<\/a> in Manhattan.<\/p>\n Judge Jeannette Vargas sided with Universal Music Group in its request to toss the suit, ruling Lamar\u2019s song was not presented as factual<\/a> and therefore not defamation.<\/p>\n \u201cA reasonable listener could not have concluded that \u2018Not Like Us\u2019 was conveying objective facts about Drake<\/a>,\u201d Vargas wrote in her opinion. \u201cThe average listener is not under the impression that a diss track is the product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public fact-checked verifiable content.\u201d<\/p>\n In the suit, Drake claimed UMG widely promoted and distributed \u201cNot Like Us\u201d even though it accused him of being a \u201ccertified pedophile.\u201d<\/a> He argued that UMG committed defamation because it knew the statements were false but released the song anyway.<\/p>\n Lamar, who performed the smash hit during the Super Bowl halftime show<\/a> this year, was not named in the suit. But Drake accused UMG of intentionally trying to \u201cassassinate\u201d his character<\/a> by orchestrating that performance, which it knew would introduce the track to an even wider audience.<\/p>\n However, Vargas ruled the lyrics of the song were clearly opinionated<\/a> and therefore couldn\u2019t be considered defamatory.<\/p>\n Listeners would not expect \u201caccurate factual reporting\u201d<\/a> from a diss track \u201creplete with profanity, trash-talking, threats of violence and figurative and hyperbolic language,\u201d Vargas wrote.<\/p>\n She also pointed out that during the rappers\u2019 ongoing feud<\/a>, Drake implied Lamar was guilty of domestic abuse on his own diss track \u201cFamily Matters.\u201d<\/a> She noted listeners were expecting \u201cepithets, fiery rhetoric or hyperbole rather than factual assertions.\u201d<\/p>\n