Drake’s legal troubles are piling up as a new lawsuit targets him and others for allegedly using gambling funds to inflate streaming numbers. This one’s a RICO class-action out of Virginia.
Drake is once again in the crosshairs of the legal system. A recent class-action lawsuit has been filed in Virginia, accusing him, streamer Adin Ross, online casino Stake, and Australian clip farmer George Nguyen of engaging in illegal activities to artificially inflate the streaming numbers for Drake’s music. This lawsuit marks the third legal challenge against the artist within just a few months, raising serious questions about his business practices.
The plaintiffs are seeking to shut down Stake.us, which they describe as an illegal gambling operation that’s been actively promoted by the defendants. They claim the platform has been used to mask financial transfers linked to alleged music-botting campaigns designed to boost streaming metrics for Drake’s songs. The lawsuit also seeks civil penalties aimed at deterring similar misconduct in the future.
According to the court documents, Drake and Nguyen purportedly funneled money through Stake’s “tipping” program, which the lawsuit characterizes as “an unlimited and wholly unregulated money transmitter” operating outside the purview of financial authorities. The funds were allegedly used to finance automated bots that generated fraudulent streams.
One particularly alarming excerpt from the complaint states, “At the heart of the 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.” These supposed fake streams aimed to mislead royalty calculations, skew recommendation algorithms, and manipulate charts, thereby endangering the integrity of the music industry.
This Virginia lawsuit follows similar actions that were filed in Missouri and New Mexico last October, both targeting Drake, Ross, and Stake for promoting an illegal gambling operation. In addition to these allegations, Drake was involved in a copyright infringement case with an Italian photographer connected to his music video for “What Did I Miss?” Furthermore, Drake found himself mentioned in a federal lawsuit against Spotify regarding widespread botting of his music, although he wasn’t named as a defendant in that case.
Stake.us is currently fighting legal battles in several other states, but Drake is not named in those suits. Adding to his woes, he recently lost a high-profile defamation case against Universal Music Group concerning Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” a verdict he is now appealing. As this situation unfolds, it remains to be seen how these legal challenges will impact Drake’s career and reputation in the music industry.