Drake issued blunt statement about ongoing diss track lawsuit just hours before Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance

Drake's legal team issued a statement about his ongoing legal battle over Kendrick Lamar's diss track just hours before the rapper performed it in front of millions at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Lamar took to the stage to perform in the middle of the Kansas City Chiefs versus Philadelphia Eagles game last night (February 9), where he entertained viewers with some of his most popular tracks as well as, bizarrely, an appearance from Serena Williams.

During the show, Lamar performed his track 'Not Like Us' - the same track that has caused controversy thanks to its brutal references to fellow rapper, Drake.

Kendrick Lamar performed 'Not Like Us' at the Super Bowl (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

In one line of the track, Lamar makes reference to Drake's 2021 album as he says: "Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophile."

Fans of the rapper noticed that Lamar chose to change some of the more explicit lyrics in his track when he appeared at the Super Bowl, omitting the word 'pedophile' as well as some other lyrics.

Following the release of 'Not Like Us', Drake sued Universal Music Group (UMG), which represents both Drake and Lamar, for defamation.

Lamar is not named in the lawsuit, but the filing accuses Universal of choosing 'chose corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists' by releasing and promoting the track despite allegedly knowing the accusations about pedophilia were false.

The suit claims Universal 'approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track', which was 'intended to convey the specific, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response'.

Drake has sued Universal Music Group (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

The lawsuit was initially filed in January, but just hours before Lamar took to the stage in New Orleans last night, Drake's team shared a new statement on the case.

They said: "UMG is masquerading as a champion of artistic freedom by calling its actions merely ‘entertainment,’ but there is nothing entertaining about pedophilia or child abuse in the real world.

"We are confident that the evidence we will ultimately present at trial—including information we’ve already learned and continue to receive since filing the lawsuit—will expose UMG’s gross prioritization of its own corporate profits and executive bonuses over its exclusively signed artists’ well-being and the truth.”

In a statement responding the accusations made in Drake's lawsuit, UMG told The Independent: “Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist—let alone Drake—is illogical. We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.”

UNILAD has contacted UMG for comment.