TORONTO — A defamation lawsuit filed by Drake against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar's diss track "Not Like Us" includes new details about a high-profile shooting that seriously injured a security guard outside the Canadian rapper's Toronto home last year.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in a New York court, which does not name Lamar himself, also includes new information related to an alleged trespassing incident that followed the May 7, 2024 shooting.
The statement of claim says a group of armed assailants drove up to Drake's home in the affluent Bridle Path neighbourhood in the middle of the night and someone shouted an expletive before at least one person opened fire.
The document alleges one bullet hit the front door and another hit a security guard who is also Drake's friend, leaving the rapper and his friends scrambling to keep the man alive in the nearly half an hour they waited for an ambulance.
It says the group applied pressure to the wound with towels and there was "blood everywhere."
Police at the time released few details about the incident and could not initially confirm whether Drake was home during the shooting.
The claim also details another incident in which someone allegedly tried to break into his home on May 8, and mentions a third alleged incident on May 9.
In the first incident, a man allegedly used his bare hands to dig a hole under the security fence surrounding the home and managed to "squeeze through" onto the property, the claim says.
Security guards caught him before he caused any harm, but the man allegedly yelled "racist slurs and threats against Drake" before he was escorted off the property, the document says.
The incidents took place against the backdrop of a rap feud between Drake and rival Lamar, in which both artists traded increasingly personal attacks and unsubstantiated allegations.
The lawsuit alleges UMG's actions in publishing and promoting "Not Like Us" -- which it says includes false allegations of pedophilia and calls for "violent retribution" against Drake -- led to the incidents at his home, and damaged his reputation and his brand's value before his contract renegotiation with the company this year.
It further alleges UMG -- the parent record label for Drake and Lamar -- chose profits over the safety of its artists. Lamar is not named in the suit.
“The lawsuit is not about the artist who created ‘Not Like Us,’" the lawsuit says, referring to Lamar. “It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false, but dangerous.”
None of the allegations have been tested in court and a statement of defence has not yet been filed.
UMG denied the allegations in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
“Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist — let alone Drake — is illogical," the company said.
“We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success."
-with files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2025.
The Canadian Press