Drake Slams Fake DMs Amid UMG Battle

Drake has denied allegations that he sent a direct message to celebrity stylist Chris Blake Griffith regarding his legal dispute with Universal Music Group (UMG). Griffith shared an alleged Instagram DM from Drake on Tuesday, January 7th, where the rapper supposedly explained the rationale behind his legal actions against his longtime label.

In the DM, Drake reportedly stated: “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.” He also reportedly added, “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 alleged conversation also touched on Griffith’s accusations that NFL player Stefon Diggs tried to drug and assault him. Drake allegedly responded, “You asking me to post a tape about you ratting on people g.”

Following the post’s circulation online, Drake denied the messages through DJ Akademiks, who wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “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,” adding, “Source – THE BOY.”

Drake’s ongoing legal battle with UMG stems from accusations he made in November, claiming the label used streaming bots and payola to inflate the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.” He also accused UMG of defamation for a song labeling him a pedophile. Court hearings on these cases are scheduled for January 13th and January 16th in Texas and New York, respectively.