Drake Files Final Appeal
- Drake filed his final appellate brief in the “Not Like Us” lawsuit, asking courts to revive the case. - The filing challenges a lower‑court dismissal and seeks permission to proceed with the claim. - The legal maneuver keeps the Drake–Kendrick dispute active in public discussion beyond music releases. (complex.com)
Drake has filed his last scheduled brief in the “Not Like Us” appeal, asking a federal court to revive his dismissed defamation case against Universal Music Group. (complex.com) The filing came after Drake opened the appeal on January 21, 2026, and after Universal Music Group answered on March 27 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Court records show Drake’s reply brief was due April 17, 2026, the usual final step before judges decide whether to hear argument or rule on the papers. (courtlistener.com) Drake is trying to overturn an October 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, who dismissed his lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” The judge said the song came out of a “heated rap battle” and treated the lyrics as nonactionable opinion rather than factual defamation. (billboard.com) In the appeal, Drake’s lawyers argue the lower court adopted a rule that would effectively shield rap diss tracks from defamation claims. They say listeners could take “Not Like Us” as stating a factual accusation, not just trading insults in a feud. (rollingstone.com) Universal Music Group has argued the dismissal should stand. In its March response, the company said the song was part of an obvious back-and-forth between two stars and that reasonable listeners would hear it in that context, not as a literal criminal charge. (musically.com) Outside groups have lined up behind UMG in the appeal. A Yale Law School free-speech institute and a separate group of legal scholars and social scientists filed friend-of-the-court briefs warning that Drake’s theory could narrow First Amendment protections and invite racial stereotyping in how rap lyrics are read in court. (yahoo.com) The case has stretched the Drake-Kendrick Lamar fight far beyond the 2024 release cycle that produced “Not Like Us,” which arrived in May 2024 and became the defining commercial hit of the feud. Drake first sued UMG in January 2025, saying the label released and promoted a track built around false and damaging claims about him. (musicbusinessworldwide.com) The next move belongs to the Second Circuit. With the reply brief now filed, the appeal shifts from public filings to the judges who will decide whether Drake gets another shot at the case or the October dismissal stands. (courtlistener.com)
