Drake claims he had to take his son out of school over “safety concerns” following Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” drop last May – which is now fueling his major defamation case against Universal Music Group.
Complex got eyes on an 81-page legal filing Wednesday, where Drake (who’d already filed two pre-action petitions about the diss track’s lyrics and streaming push) says seven-year-old Adonis Graham had to leave his Toronto elementary school right after “Not Like Us” hit.
The suit’s opening reveals Drake faced several scary incidents that month – including armed attackers shooting up his place, leaving a guard bleeding. “Blood was everywhere,” the docs say, noting it took “nearly 30 minutes” for medics to show.
Two more incidents quickly followed the “Not Like Us” release. One time, someone allegedly dug under Drake’s security fence with their “bare hands” to break in. Then on May 9, five days post-release of the Mustard-produced track, they say “another break-in attempt” went down.
“In the two decades leading up to May of 2024, although Drake was constantly in the public eye, nothing remotely like these events had ever happened to him or his family,” the docs state, claiming these weren’t random acts. Drake says UMG’s behind it all – first getting rich off his music, then choosing “corporate greed over the safety and wellbeing of its artists” with their push of Kendrick’s diss.
The docs compare this to the dangerous Pizzagate conspiracy mess from 2016, which led to actual violence.
“With the palpable physical threat to Drake’s safety and the bombardment of online harassment, Drake fears for the safety and security of himself, his family, and his friends,” the papers explain. “After the attacks on his home, Drake pulled his son out of the elementary school he attended in Toronto due to safety concerns, and once school ended for the summer, Drake arranged for his son and mother to leave Toronto entirely.”
The suit points to ongoing threats, including social media posts naming Adonis directly. Drake’s lawyers say he “reasonably fears for the safety of his family, and himself” and blame UMG.
“Following this violence, Drake made lasting changes to his life, including increasing security for himself and his family anywhere they go,” according to the docs. “The threat of violence continues to weigh on Drake. … And to this day, Drake experiences anxiety worrying about the physical safety of his seven-year-old son and mother.”
Shortly after Drake filed, UMG fired back with their own statement.
“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,” a UMG rep told Variety. “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.”
