Drake's legal battle, Ajike “A.J.” Owens killer sentenced, Turkey Leg Hut closes
What I’m Reading
Drake captured headlines this week with the filing of two explosive legal actions against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s hit track “Not Like Us.”
The first legal action accuses UMG and Spotify of launching an illegal “scheme” using “bots, payola and other methods” to artificially boost the diss track, according to Billboard. A spokesperson for UMG told Variety that “no amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”
The second action accused UMG, which distributes Drake’s music, of defamation and failing to stop the release of a song “falsely accusing him of being a sex offender.”
Billboard notes that both actions are “pre-action filings,” which means they aren’t quite full lawsuits — but rather a legal procedure taken to obtain info before filing a lawsuit. Complex Magazine pulled together a guide concerning all the questions you might have about Drake's legal battle with UMG.
Experts have weighed in on the fight, with one entertainment lawyer telling Rolling Stone’s Andre Gee there’s not much “meat on the bone” here. But other experts believe Drake’s actions can have sweeping ramifications for the music industry. “UMG has to be careful that this doesn’t get blown up more and lead to discovery—if any play manipulation comes out, floodgates may open for the industry/streaming platforms and call into question the source of streams, etc,” an entertainment lawyer based in New York told me.
What’s In The News
Across America
Arizona: The deaf Black man with cerebral palsy who was beaten and shocked by Phoenix police plans to sue the city and the officers for $3.5 million…
District of Columbia: DC’s attorney general has sued an activist who founded an anti-police brutality charity, saying he spent $75,000 of the funds on himself…
Florida: Susan Lorincz has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing her neighbor, Ajike “A.J.” Owens, after shooting her through the front door…
Indiana: The distribution of Ku Klux Klan flyers in Hamilton County is disturbing residents…
Kansas: 30 years ago, officials in Wichita found that the groundwater beneath a historically Black neighborhood was contaminated with a carcinogenic chemical. It is still in the groundwater today…
Maryland: “The Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition doesn’t just save lives. It builds meaningful relationships”…
Massachusetts: Beatrice Busby, who turned 109 this week, has been going to the same church in Boston for 100 years…
North Carolina: “After just five months of requiring new recruits to get basic law enforcement training before they start work as deputies, North Carolina sheriffs seem ready to end the practice”…
Ohio: A group of Black leaders and locals marched through Columbus in a unity rally, after neo-Nazis walked the same streets chanting racist slurs…
Oklahoma: My colleague Phillip Jackson profiled the new Tulsa mayor, Monroe Nichols, and explored his plan to confront the city’s ugly history head-on…
Pennsylvania: For the Philadelphia Inquirer, Layla Jones talked with residents in a majority-Black voting precinct who didn’t vote — but would have voted Trump…
Tennessee: Directed by Memphis’ first doula center, a pilot project pairing birth doulas with low-income women is showing results…
Texas: Paul Quinn College has been awarded a $1.5 million grant to fund a vibrant housing and mixed-use development project…
What’s Happening
For the Associated Press, Kenya Hunter spoke with Black women who said they would be taking a collective step back in the wake of the presidential election…
Attorney Ben Crump penned the following op-ed: “Why I’m helping Malcolm X’s daughters sue the U.S. government”…HuffPost: Civil rights activist Doris Prince stood next to Malcolm X at his last public speech. So why was she erased from history?...
Bishop T.D. Jakes is “beginning to improve” after a medical emergency during church service…
In The New York Times: “For generations, scholars argued that white women were rarely involved in the active buying and selling of Black people. A growing body of research says otherwise”…
Walmart, the largest retailer in the world, is rolling back its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the face of right-wing pressure. Expect more companies to follow…
The popular Turkey Leg Hut has officially closed its doors in Houston after a judge’s ruling…
NBCU Academy: The U.S. credit system has shut out poor people. These counselors are working to fix that…
Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Jenice Armstrong traveled to Ghana to interview Black American expats who decided to leave the United States behind…
Food justice advocate Mya Price penned an op-ed explaining the urgent need for food security in Black rural Appalachia…
For Capital B, Jewel Wicker reported on the race to uncover the stories of the Black people buried at endangered burial grounds…
CNN’s John Blake talked to Rev. William Barber, who offers a blueprint for Democrats’ comeback during Trump’s second term…
The Black Men Buy Houses program aims to provide resources to Black men in an effort to increase their homeownership…
Entertainment News
Kendrick Lamar dropped his surprise new album “GNX” following months of rumors that he had been working on a new project. Kia Turner explored all of the style references in the rapper’s “Squabble Up” video for Complex…Frazier Tharpe wrote about the album for GQ, and how it stands on its own…David Dennis Jr. also penned a review for Andscape…
De La Soul has denounced a new book about the hip-hop trio, telling fans they’re “exploring” legal options in the wake of its publication. Hip-hop journalists have stood behind the author…
“Location” singer Khalid came out as gay in a series of posts on social media after he said he was outed…
A federal judge denied Sean Combs’ latest attempt at bail in his federal sex trafficking and racketeering case…
“The Brown Dog,” the last featured performance of Michael K. Williams, debuted on the late actor’s 58th birthday. You can watch it here…
Wendy Williams has become "cognitively impaired, permanently disabled and legally incapacitated,” according to her court-appointed guardian…
The Season 4 premiere of “Abbott Elementary” nabbed nearly 9 million total viewers in its first 35 days of viewing, data shows…
Alabama A&M has retracted the announcement of the death of linebacker Medrick Burnett Jr., who suffered a head injury during an October game. He is still alive and hospitalized…
Even though he was a musical genius, Billy Preston wasn't as big a 1970s star as he should have been. A new documentary explores why…
Courtney B. Vance has joined the cast of “Percy Jackson” as Zeus, taking over for the late Lance Reddick…
Olympian Jordan Chiles will publish her memoir “I’m That Girl” in the spring of 2025…
Vulture has updated its “Best Denzel Washington Movies, Ranked” list to include the actor’s most recent work…
Famed dancer Alicia Graf Mack will be the next artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, following Robert Battle and Judith Jamison…
Obituaries
The Rev. Robert W. Dixon Sr., the last known survivor of the Buffalo Soldiers, has died. He was 103…
TJ Swan, a member of the legendary New York hip-hop collective Juice Crew, has died. He was 57…
Danielle Butler, an incisive writer who went by Daniecal on social media, has died. She was 39…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 1 minute, 21 seconds…
Howard University’s Department of media, journalism and film students have produced their Fall 2024 newscast! Support their work by watching here…
The New York Times’ Astead Herndon went on NPR’s Code Switch to talk about the “little r” racist idea that swung the election…
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of her debut album, “Complex Simplicity,” Teedra Moses took to NPR for a Tiny Desk performance…
Julia Craven’s team at New America’s Better Life Lab is hosting a virtual discussion on the results of their two-year qualitative study that explored what families need to thrive. The event takes place Dec. 3 at noon EST…
Nostalgia has society in a chokehold right now, but I stumbled across this cool website, MyRetroTVs. The website allows you to channel-surf over decades of movies, commercials, game shows and more…