HOUSTON (AP) 鈥 Texas-based iHeartMedia said it settled its legal dispute with Drake over Kendrick Lamar鈥檚 dis track 鈥淣ot Like Us鈥 after demonstrating that it 鈥渄id nothing wrong.鈥
Drake had alleged in that iHeartMedia received illegal payments from Universal Music Group to boost radio airplay for 鈥淣ot Like Us.鈥 UMG is the parent record label for both
San Antonio-based iHeartMedia initially declined to comment on the settlement, which was revealed last week in court documents. The media company released an updated statement Saturday.
鈥淚n exchange for documents that showed iHeart did nothing wrong, Drake agreed to drop his petition. No payments were made 鈥 by either one of us,鈥 the statement said.
A representative for Drake disputed iHeart鈥檚 statement Tuesday, saying the company 鈥渉as not provided a single document as of yet to Drake, let alone any information that showed they did nothing wrong.鈥
鈥淭his back and forth is silly. Drake dropped the petition. We did nothing wrong. End of story,鈥 iHeartMedia said in a statement late Tuesday.
In a court document filed Thursday in Bexar County, where San Antonio is located, attorneys for Drake said the rapper and iHeartMedia had 鈥渞eached an amicable resolution of the dispute鈥 but did not offer any other information.
The dismissal of iHeartMedia from the petition was done 鈥渨ith prejudice,鈥 meaning Drake would not be able to refile the petition against the company.
A hearing on a motion by UMG鈥檚 lawyers to dismiss Drake's petition had been set for Wednesday but was changed to March 24, according to court records filed this week.
Drake鈥檚 petition in Texas also alleges UMG knew 鈥渢he song itself, as well as its accompanying album art and music video, attacked the character of another one of UMG鈥檚 most prominent artists, Drake, by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender.鈥
Besides the legal petition in Texas, Drake in January in federal court in New York City against over what he alleges are false allegations of pedophilia made in 鈥淣ot Like Us.鈥 Lamar is not named in the lawsuit.
On Tuesday, a judge overseeing the defamation lawsuit rejected a request from UMG to delay a pretrial hearing and put a pause on discovery, which is the exchange of evidence between the two sides. UMG had sought the delay until a judge could hear its request to dismiss the case.
Drake鈥檚 lawyers said in a statement that they were 鈥減leased with the Court鈥檚 decision to reject UMG鈥檚 continued attempts to stall discovery 鈥 another clear sign that UMG cannot run from or bury the truth.鈥
UMG鈥檚 lawyers did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The feud between Drake, a 38-year-old Canadian rapper and singer and five-time Grammy winner, and Lamar, a 37-year-old who headlined the show on Feb. 9, is among the biggest in hip-hop in recent years.
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The story has been updated to correct that iHeartMedia鈥檚 revised statement was released on Saturday instead of Monday.
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Associated Press writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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