SpectiCast filed the suit in California on Wednesday, alleging libel, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage and interference with performance of contract. The suit comes one day before the film, recorded at Toronto Sound Academy in 2009, appears in 350 theaters nationwide Thursday alongside international screenings.
The suit alleges that the rapper signed a contract to allow the film to be shown and that he would receive 15 percent of the profits. Earlier this week, though, the rapper disavowed the movie, stating, “The Drake Homecoming film is not something OVO or Drake have any part in. I feel it is my responsibility to inform and protect my fans.”
That statement, though, constitutes libel, according to SpectiCast. “Drake initiated a campaign to destroy the film’s commercial value, issuing false statements via Twitter and other social media outlets that he has no affiliation with the film, giving rise to the libelous and false impression that the film’s recording of his 2009 Toronto concert is somehow ‘unauthorized,'” SpectiCast wrote in the suit.
A representative for Drake declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The company alleged that the rapper spoke negatively about the film and “attempt[ed] to sabotage” it in order to steer fans towards buying tickets to his annual OVO Fest in August. “Drake’s secret motivation for publishing the damaging falsehoods about the film, and trying to destroy its commercial and artistic success, was to drive Drake’s fans to purchase tickets to his own ‘OVO Fest’ event instead of the film, under the false guise of #protectingthefans,” the suit claims.
“Drake authorized the filming, he was paid for it, he still has a financial stake in the movie and his current statements to the contrary are completely false,” Peter Haviland, an attorney for SpectiCast, said in a statement. “Drake’s actions are libelous, malicious and damaging to those who worked hard and honorably to get this movie out.”