Drake has stepped into the spotlight once again, this time denying the authenticity of a direct message that has stirred up quite the online frenzy.
Celebrity stylist Chris Blake Griffith shared an alleged Instagram message from Drake, in which the rapper discussed his legal tussle with Universal Music Group (UMG). According to Griffith, Drake supposedly compared his situation to a big-name sports brand funding a scandalous campaign.
In the DM, Drake is quoted saying, “Me and Universal is like if Nike was funding a campaign about Lebron cheating on his wife… not adidas or Reebok… Nike the company he been with since he started…my situation is not no street shit.”
It doesn’t end there. The purported message continues, with Drake writing about how past artists were dismissed by the label, allegedly adding, “Everybody before me that tried the label was too eccentric so they wrote them off as crazy and they never had to pay for their sins and mistakes. I’m going to change that and make the building a safer place for every artist moving forward.”
The exchange reportedly also included a conversation about Griffith’s claims against NFL player Stefon Diggs. Drake allegedly questioned, “You asking me to post a tape about you ratting on people g.”
However, rapper Drake, through DJ Akademiks, slammed the messages as fabrications. Akademiks took to social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, declaring, “This is a fake DM. Drake called buddy a Rat….. he got mad and made up some fake DM to try to make the blogs and go viral. end of story,” and reaffirmed the denial with, “Source – THE BOY.”
Meanwhile, the backdrop for this unfolded drama is Drake’s ongoing legal maneuvers against UMG. Back in November, he filed two pre-action petitions accusing UMG of artificially inflating the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us” using streaming bots and payola.
Additionally, Drake has accused UMG, parent to his label Republic Records, and Interscope, Kendrick’s home, of defamation for endorsing a track that brands him a pedophile. This legal saga has been unfolding with hearings initially planned for December now set for January in Texas and New York due to scheduling issues.
As Drake continues to refute the claims surrounding the leaked message, the tangled web of his legal battle with Universal Music Group remains a front-page story. With social media buzz and courtroom drama, the story of Drake versus UMG is far from over.
