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A judge has dismissed the rapper Drake’s defamation lawsuit against the music corporation over Kendrick Lamar’s track the diss record.

Presiding Judge Jeannette Vargas decided that the rapper’s song lyrics, which claimed the artist and his crew of being "certified paedophiles", were "protected opinion" and could not be deemed libelous.

Drake filed the legal action in early this year, accusing UMG, the music company representing both artists, of defamatory conduct by allowing the track to be released and marketed, stating it disseminated a "false and malicious narrative".

Drake's representative stated he planned to appeal the ruling. UMG expressed it was pleased with the result and was eager to continuing its collaboration with the musician.

Context of the Rap Battle

The diss song, which was first dropped in May 2024, was widely seen as the decisive blow in an continuing feud between the competing artists.

It has become the most successful track of the rapper’s career, having won multiple Grammy awards and being one of the most-discussed moments of his Super Bowl performance in early 2025.

In a 38-page order, the judge called the row between the artists "the most notorious hip-hop feud in the genre's history".

"Both rappers’ seven-track rap battle was a 'verbal conflict' that was the subject of extensive press coverage and online discourse," the court noted.

"While the accusation that Drake is a child predator is undoubtedly a serious one, the broader context of a heated rap battle, with provocative remarks and insulting claims hurled by each artist, would not lead the average audience to believe that 'the track' conveys verifiable facts about the claimant."

She additionally observed that, in an previous track, the artist had "challenged Lamar to make the pedophile claims" that featured in Not Like Us.

On the song Taylor Made Freestyle, Drake used the AI-generated voice of Tupac Shakur to suggest strategies on how to win the rap battle.

"Suggest he has a preference for minors, consider that a tip," the track suggested.

"Against this backdrop in which such lines as 'Hey Drake, I’ve heard you prefer them young' must be assessed," stated Judge Vargas.

"The similarity in the phrasing strongly indicates that this lyric is a direct callback to the artist’s own words in the earlier release."

'An Affront to Artists'

The musician, whose legal name is Aubrey Graham, did not sue Lamar in the lawsuit.

His legal team accused the label of initiating "an effort to create a viral hit" out of a track that made the "untrue claim that the artist is a convicted predator, and to imply that the audience should resort to extra-legal action in response".

Ruling against Drake, Judge Vargas said listeners would not expect "truthful accounts" from a musical attack "filled with profanity, insults, threats of violence, and exaggerated statements."

She pointed out that the rapper himself had engaged in comparable rhetoric, quoting a lyric in which the artist "strongly" suggested that "Lamar is a spouse beater", and a separate instance where Drake "raps that he 'heard' that one of Lamar's sons may not be his biological offspring."

Concerning the track in question, Judge Vargas said: "Even seemingly factual claims may take on the nature of subjective views... when made in open discourse, intense arguments, or other circumstances in which an audience may anticipate the use of epithets, passionate language or hyperbole."

Responding to the dismissal, a label representative said: "From the beginning, this lawsuit was an insult to every creative and their creative expression and never should have seen the light of day."

"We are satisfied with the court's dismissal and are eager to resuming our work effectively promoting Drake's music and supporting his artistic path," the representative added.

A spokesperson for Drake said the artist planned to contest the ruling, "and we await the appellate court examining it".

Lamar has yet to comment on the legal matter.