Photo-Illustration: The Cut; Photos: Cole Burston/Michael Owens/Getty Images

On Thursday, a federal judge dismissed Drake’s defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” ruling that the lyrics — which call Drake a “certified pedophile” — are “nonactionable opinion” and therefore not defamatory.

The ruling marks the end to Drake’s suit, which he filed in January after filing a similar petition in November as an apparent attempt to rehash what Manhattan judge Jeannette A. Vargas called the “most infamous rap battle in the genre’s history.” “Over the course of 16 days, the two artists released eight so-called ‘diss tracks,’ with increasingly heated rhetoric, loaded accusations, and violent imagery,” Vargas wrote in her opinion.

Legally speaking, she seems to agree with the general perception that Lamar came out on top. “Not Like Us,” which came out in May, “dealt the metaphorical killing blow” with “lyrics explicitly accusing Drake of being a pedophile, set to a catchy beat and propulsive bassline,” she wrote, noting that it “went on to become a cultural sensation” and achieved “immense commercial success and critical acclaim,” including Grammy awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, as well as being performed at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Lamar is not named in the lawsuit, which Drake filed against their shared label, Universal Music Group. Drake had accused UMG of publishing and promoting “Not Like Us” despite “knowing that the song’s insinuations that he has sexual relations with minors were false and defamatory.” He also alleged that UMG had artificially inflated streaming numbers to boost Lamar’s “perceived popularity.”

But on Thursday, the court ruled that the song could not be treated as defamation because a “reasonable” listener would not conclude that “a diss track is the product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public factchecked verifiable content.” “‘Not Like Us’ is replete with profanity, trash-talking, threats of violence, and figurative and hyperbolic language, all of which are indicia of opinion,” the opinion states. Vargas also threw out Drake’s allegation that UMG manipulated “Not Like Us”’ numbers, saying that claim was based on “tweets and other anonymized commentary” and was “insufficient to meet the plausibility standard.”

In a statement to The Cut, a spokesperson for Drake said that his team plans to appeal the ruling, adding, “We look forward to the Court of Appeals reviewing it.” Meanwhile, a spokesperson for UMG — which works with both Drake and Lamar — applauded the decision. “From the outset, this suit was an affront to all artists and their creative expression and never should have seen the light of day,” they said. “We’re pleased with the court’s dismissal and look forward to continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”

It seems like Drake’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad summer will never end. Maybe things will start looking up in 2026?

This post has been updated.

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