A judge today awarded Drake $67,650 in attorneys’ fees in the wake of the dismissal of a film distributor’s defamation lawsuit stemming from comments the singer made about the documentary “Drake’s Homecoming: The Lost Footage.”
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Barbara Scheper tossed out SpectiCast’s lawsuit on free speech grounds on Sept. 29. Drake was entitled to attorneys’ fees by law, according to the Canadian rapper’s lawyers, who had sought a total of $121,011 from the company for attorneys’ fees and associated expenses.
SpectiCast sued Drake on March 18, alleging trade libel and intentional interference with performance of a contract. The film documents a 2009 Drake concert in Toronto.
Three days before the film’s release, the Grammy Award winner issued statements to his millions of Twitter and Facebook followers that the movie was “unauthorized” and he had no part in it, according to SpectiCast’s lawsuit.
SpectiCast was blindsided by the comments, which harmed the successful global release of the film, the suit alleged. SpectiCast attorney Todd Bonder said Drake’s action resulted in cancellations of showings of the documentary in about 150 theaters.
The complaint alleged that the 29-year-old singer, whose real name is Aubrey Drake Graham, authorized and endorsed the film.
But entertainment litigator Stanton Stein maintained that his client knew nothing about SpectiCast film.
“The allegations of SpectiCast’s complaint required substantial factual research by me and my team regarding a concert that took place in Canada over five years ago …,” Stein wrote in a sworn declaration. “(Drake) had never heard of SpectiCast, let alone authorized its theatrical project.”
