Who is UMG’s largest stakeholder? Allegations against the Bolloré Group explored after Drake points finger in the amended lawsuit
Drake filed an amended lawsuit against Universal Music Group on April 16, 2025, shortly after scoring a discovery win in the first week of April 2025. At the time, the presiding judge had given the rapper until April 16, 2025, to file an amended lawsuit or respond to UMG's dismissal motion.
In the amended lawsuit, the rapper's legal team mentioned UMG's largest stakeholders, the Bolloré family. As per UMG's investor relations data, Vincent Bolloré holds 48.04% of UMG's voting rights and has an interest of 18.01% in the company. Drizzy's lawsuit mentioned that the Bolloré family were recently accused of corruption and money laundering from 11 African NGO's that were seeking restitution amounting to billions of euros.
The complaint against UMG's largest stakeholders was filed by the collective “Restitution for Africa” (RAF). RAF alleged that the Bolloré Group used corrupt practices like bribery and influence peddling to obtain and maintain control of key port infrastructure in the countries under RAF before selling its logistics operations in 2022.
As per @AkademiksTV's tweet highlighting Drizzy's amended lawsuit against UMG, the rapper's legal team mentioned:
“The public and artists should be concerned about recent headlines involving UMG’s largest stakeholder that only reinforces the need for transparency all the way up to the Board of Director’s level.”
More details about Drake's amended lawsuit against UMG explored
Drake originally sued Universal Music Group in January 2025, claiming that the music company defamed him by promoting Kendrick Lamar's diss track Not Like Us, thereby spreading a malicious and false narrative against the rapper. The lyrics of Lamar's songs dubbed Drizzy a "predator" and "pedophile".
In an updated lawsuit filed on April 16, 2025, in New York City, Drake's lawyers argued that Kendrick Lamar’s diss track gained more attention because it was featured at major events like the Grammys and the Super Bowl.
For context, Lamar’s song Not Like Us won Record of the Year, Best Rap Performance, and Best Music Video—and he also performed it during the Super Bowl halftime show.
The lawsuit mentioned that despite Kendrick Lamar omitting the word "pedophile" from his halftime performance, it was viewed by over 133 million people. The rapper and his attorneys believed that almost everyone understood that the track was defamatory and claimed:
“Not only did streams of the Recording increase significantly following these two mega-cultural events, but threats against Drake and his family did as well."
The amended lawsuit also mentioned:
"It was the first, and will hopefully be the last, Super Bowl halftime show orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist."
However, on April 17, 2025, Universal Music Group put forth a statement dubbing Drizzy's accusations baseless. The music company's statement acknowledged that Drake is "one of the world's most accomplished artists" and that they enjoyed a successful 16-year-long relationship with him. UMG further accused Drizzy of being misled by his legal team into taking "one absurd legal step after another."
Drake's amended complaint also mentions that the lawsuit doesn't aim at Kendrick Lamar but at UMG, as the music company knowingly decided to promote, exploit, publish, and monetize claims that were dangerous and false.