Drake's legal team has provided the following statement to XXL in response to UMG asking that the rapper's defamation lawsuit be dismissed.

"UMG wants to pretend that this is about a rap battle in order to distract its shareholders, artists and the public from a simple truth: a greedy company is finally being held responsible for profiting from dangerous misinformation that has already resulted in multiple acts of violence," the statement reads. "This motion is a desperate ploy by UMG to avoid accountability, but we have every confidence that this case will proceed and continue to uncover UMG’s long history of endangering and abusing its artists."

GET THE BIG PICTURE AT XXL