Drake’s kicked off the year with a major lawsuit, accused of using gambling funds to inflate music streams. It’s not looking good for the rapper.
In a surprising turn of events, rapper Drake finds himself embroiled in legal troubles right as the new year begins. A class-action lawsuit was filed in Virginia on December 31, 2025, accusing him of unlawfully transferring funds through the online casino Stake to purchase fake streaming numbers for his music.
The lawsuit names not only Drake but also Twitch streamer Adin Ross, Australian digital entrepreneur George Nguyen, and the online casino Stake (Stake.us) as defendants. It was brought forth by two users of Stake.us, alleging that Drake, who has been paid to promote the casino, and Ross utilized Stake’s tipping feature to transfer large sums of money, reportedly as much as $100,000 at a time, to each other and to Nguyen.
Nguyen is accused of taking these funds and artificially boosting Drake’s streaming numbers on platforms like Spotify. According to Pitchfork, Stake operates in jurisdictions where real-money online gambling is banned by selling what is termed “play money.” This model allows users to engage in gambling without actual currency, while the associated tokens can be converted to cash, raising legal questions about the practice. If found illegal, both Drake and Ross could face consequences for their promotional activities related to Stake.us.
An excerpt from the lawsuit details the alleged scheme: “Drake — acting directly and through willing and knowledgeable co-conspirators deployed automated bots and streaming farms to artificially inflate play counts of his music across major platforms such as Spotify.” This manipulation allegedly misled various royalty and recommendation engines, distorting playlists and charts, while also limiting genuine artists’ visibility and access to authentic content.
This Virginia lawsuit isn’t an isolated incident. It follows a series of similar class-action lawsuits that were filed in Missouri and New Mexico in October 2025, which also accused Drake, Ross, and Stake of operating an illegal gambling scheme in those states. As the legal proceedings unfold, the music industry will undoubtedly be watching closely to see how this situation develops and what it might mean for artists and promoters alike.
