The patience of Lucian Grainge is apparently thinking as a legal battle of the Universal Music Group with the rapper Drake Rumber. In a declaration letter, filed Thursday with the South District of New York and obtained by The Hollywood ReporterThe all-powerful leader of the UMG, the largest music company in the world, retaliated on Drake’s last push to obtain more documents related to the company’s relationship with Kendrick Lamar, describing the specific affirmations made by Drake as “wacky”, “nonsense” and “without foundation and indeed ridiculous”, with Graingge remark that the company had spent “hundreds of millions” Society Canadie.
Earlier this week, Drake’s legal team took action to find more ammunition in their defamation trial against the UMG. In a discovery offer, Drake urged the court to force the UMG and Section to hand over the label contract with Lamar, as well as information relating to allegations of domestic violence and other alleged crimes committed by the rapper Compton.
In his letter of declaration, Graingge clearly indicated that he was not involved in the release and the promotion of “Not like Us” and also sought to specify that UMG did not try a “Devalue” Drake, one of their best -selling artists. Lamar (Interscope Records) and Drake (Republic Records) are represented by various UMG divisions.
Grainge writes that “claims that I was behind a” devaluation “plan [Drake’s] Brand through the release and promotion of the Kendrick Lamar Recording “Not like Us” – an allegation that makes no sense because of the company I direct, Universal Music Group NV, has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Drake, including long -standing purchase and the purchase of its musical publishing rights. »»
In addition, Grainege said that it “had no sense” that it was “in weeds about the release and promotion of any particular sound recording, from thousands of UMG versions around the world” as its work included a “global strategy” in “a society of several billion dollars at several billion dollars”.
Grainge ends the letter with a more emphatic declaration that he had nothing to do with “not like us”. Given my role, I am accustomed (and unfortunately resigned largely) to personal attacks, and I also recognize that a frequent strategy of the opponents of the litigation of UMG is to try to waste the time and the resources of my UMG with the discovery of the kind of Drake that Drake is looking for here – either in an attempt to attention of the media, or in an effort to force a kind of commercial regenegiation or financiers “, Graré.
He adds, “But given drake’s motion, i would like to make it quite clear that i had never heard the recording“ not like us, ”nor ever saw the corresponding cover art or music video, a after they were release by Interscope Records. Whilst, as part of my role, And Responsibility for UMG’s Global Businesses, The proposition that I was involved in, Much Less Responsible for, Review and Approving the Content of “Not Like US,” Its Cover Art Music, or to determine or direct the promotion of these documents, is without foundation and indeed ridiculous.
In a separate letter submitted by UMG lawyers in the South New York district on Thursday, the company said: “Drake’s request is a transparent attempt to use the discovery to harass UMG and force it to waste time and resources by spite.”
The letter adds that “the premise of Drake’s motion – that he could not have lost a rap battle unless it is the product of an imaginary secret conspiracy going to the top of the UMG corporate structure – is absurd. Documents, they would surely be captured by the discovery of other UMG document guards, who were in fact responsible for the release and promotion of “not like us”. Drake does not approach his burden to show that Sir Lucian must be a guard.
