natives.

UMG relies heavily on rhetorical hyperbole while ignoring that the defining aspect of rhetorical hyperbole is that the statements cannot be proven. An accusation of pedophilia and being on a sex offender registry are things you can PROVE, therefore the rhetorical hyperbole argument fails. UMG cites Rapaport v. Barstool as an example of a court dismissing the Plaintiff’s claim even though the accusation was something provable. Michael Rapaport claimed Barstool accused him of having herpes. The accusation in question was a t-shirt which Rapaport claimed was intended to depict him as having herpes. Rapaport never argued the audience actually believed he had herpes. Drake’s amended complaint argues that “Not Like Us” explicitly refers to him as a pedophile, its cover art depicts his home as housing registered sex offenders, and the audience believed the defamatory statements. The two cases are very different.