What did you miss, Drake? Apparently, the part about copyright law.
A new lawsuit filed on Wednesday, Nov. 12, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California accuses the 39-year-old rapper of lifting imagery from Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti’s work for the “What Did I Miss?” music video, Billboard reported.
At the center of the dispute is a shot in the video showing Drake standing to the right of an arrangement of guns spread across the ground. Galimberti argues that the setup is “an unauthorized copy” of an image from “THE AMERIGUNS,” his award-winning portrait series featuring American gun owners posing with their firearms.
In the 13-page filing, per Complex, Galimberti’s attorneys write, “This lawsuit concerns Defendants’ willful, brazen, and extensive unlawful infringement of Plaintiff’s exclusive copyright in his photographic portrait image contained within the project entitled ‘THE AMERIGUNS,’ which was created by Plaintiff, Gabriele Galimberti.”
“That Galimberti’s iconic and highly distinctive photography style embodied in the Original Work was lifted by Defendants to set the scene of the music video for the song ‘What Did I Miss?’ is both an egregious violation of federal law and an affront to Plaintiff, his livelihood, his legacy, and to photographers everywhere,” they continued.
Here’s the other thing: Galimberti, a National Geographic photographer, is also known for shooting the widely condemned 2022 Balenciaga campaign involving children and sexually explicit objects. The ad triggered intense public outrage, with many accusing Galimberti of promoting pedophilia. The lawsuit notes that he was later “publicly vindicated in a defamation lawsuit abroad related to the false accusations arising from the Balenciaga advertisement.”
The new filing argues that Drake’s video intentionally echoes Galimberti’s work in a way that forces him back into controversy. The suit draws a through line to Drake’s high-profile feud with Kendrick Lamar, who labeled him a “certified pedophile” on “Not Like Us.” Drake later filed his own defamation suit against Universal Music Group, which has since been dismissed.
“Given Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics directed as calling Defendant Graham a pedophile and defendant Graham’s now dismissed defamation lawsuit, on information and belief, Defendant Graham sought to imply that he, like Plaintiff, would be publicly exonerated,” Galimberti’s attorneys wrote.
The complaint says viewers instantly connected the music video imagery to “THE AMERIGUNS” and argues that the resemblance is “particularly troubling” because the Balenciaga controversy was driven by “false allegations of glorifying pedophilia.” Galimberti claims the video creates a “forced and unauthorized association,” harming the integrity of his work and his reputation.”
He is seeking damages.
