Judge Doesn't Buy Rap Against Drake

A judge today sounded skeptical about a film distributor’s libel claims against Grammy-award winning singer Drake concerning comments he made on the Internet regarding the documentary “Drake’s Homecoming: The Lost Footage,” but she did not rule on a defense motion to dismiss the case and instead took it under submission.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Barbara Scheper questioned some of plaintiff’s SpectiCast’s own actions, including why they did not involve the singer more in the time leading up to the film’s release in March.

“It seems strange to me your client had no contact with the defendant leading up to the promotion and release of this picture,” Scheper said.

SpectiCast attorney Todd Bonder said Drake is a typical celebrity with many “handlers” acting as a support staff and that some of them were in contact with the distributor.

SpectiCast sued Drake on March 18, alleging trade libel and intentional interfering with performance of a contract. The film records a 2009 Drake concert performance in Toronto.

Three days before the film’s release, Drake issued statements to millions of his Twitter and Facebook followers that the movie was “unauthorized” and he had no part in it, the suit states. SpectiCast was blindsided by the comments, which harmed the successful global release of the film, the suit alleges.

Bonder said cancellations of showings of the documentary occurred in about 150 theaters.

The complaint alleges that the 28-year-old Drake, whose real name is Aubrey Drake Graham, authorized and endorsed the film.

Drake’s attorney, Stanton Stein, maintains the singer’s comments were protected speech made on Internet public forums. Stein said SpectiCast’s arguments were “ludicrous” because Drake actually knew nothing about their film.

“They should have contacted my client and determined his support of this,” Stein said. “This is an attempt to blame my client for what they did.”

The problems with the movie lie solely with SpectiCast, Stein said.

“They knew they were going in the toilet on this thing because they failed to get my client’s permission,” Stein said.

City News Service; Wikimedia Commons