O’Brien’s playful jabs come as Drake settled his legal action against iHeartMedia over Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’
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Conan O’Brien made a playful reference to Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s ongoing feud at the 2025 Oscars.
The 61-year-old comedian made the jab towards the 38-year-old Canadian rapper during his stint as host at the 97th Academy Awards on March 2.
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“We’re halfway through the show, which means it’s time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile,” O’Brien joked, referencing the line in Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us,” which won five Grammys at the 2025 Grammy awards.
“Don’t worry, I’m lawyered up,” he added about Drake’s lawsuits against Universal Music Group.
The joke comes after the Associated Press reported that Drake reached a settlement with IHeartMedia over “Not Like Us” on Feb. 28. According to court documents obtained by the AP, the rapper’s legal team confirmed, “The parties were able to reach a settlement satisfactory to both sides.”
According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE on Nov. 25, 2024, Drake filed a legal petition against IHeartMedia and Universal Music Group and alleged the company “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves” with Lamar’s track. UMG — who represents both Lamar and Drake — denied the allegations in a statement to PEOPLE.
Drake later filed another lawsuit against the record label for promoting “Not Like Us,” alleging that it included defamation against him. The filing alleged that UMG “approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track that falsely accuses Drake of being a pedophile and calls for violent retribution against him.”
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Drake attends the “Top Boy” UK Premiere on September 04, 2019 in London ; Kendrick Lamar attends The 2023 Met Gala on May 01, 2023 in New York City.Karwai Tang/WireImage ; Arturo Holmes/MG23/Getty
In another statement to PEOPLE, UMG said, “Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist—let alone Drake—is illogical.”
“We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success,” the statement concluded.
See PEOPLE’s full coverage of the 97th annual Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien and airing on ABC.
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