Drake And 21 Savage Settle Lawsuit Over Fake Vogue Cover
Reliable Sources have reported that Drake and 21 Savage have signed an agreement with Vogue’s parent company, Condé Nast. In November, the media conglomerate sued the duo for using a bogus Vogue magazine cover to promote their chart-topping collaborative album “Her Loss.”
While the settlement amount has not been released (the original trademark infringement case sought $4 million in penalties), Will Bowes, Condé Nast’s general counsel, stated in a memo that the settlement will “bolster our ongoing creative output, including Vogue editorial.”
“As a creative company, we, of course, understand our brands may from time to time be referenced in other creative works,” Bowes wrote. “In this instance, however, it was clear to us that Drake and 21 Savage leveraged Vogue’s reputation for their commercial purposes and, in the process, confused audiences who trust Vogue as the authoritative voice on fashion and culture.” It also resulted in a permanent injunction prohibiting the commercial use of the Vogue trademarks in the future.
The media outlet sued Drake and 21 over a false magazine cover shared on social media and sniped in select places to promote their joint album “Her Loss.” Condé Nast stated the rappers’ promotional campaign for the record was “based solely on the use of the Vogue marks and the premise that Drake and 21 Savage would be featured on the cover of Vogue’s next issue,” according to a complaint filed in a Manhattan federal court. It said, “All of this is false. And none of it has been authorized by Condé Nast.”
Bowes opined in the memo that while the magazine “tried to resolve the matter amicably, our outreach efforts were repeatedly ignored,” Drake and 21 “went ahead using the Vogue name to print a fake edition and cover of Vogue, along with out-of-home marketing assets and globally disseminated social and video posts.”
The duo did the same with other outlets and channels, circulating bogus press and interview clips in the week preceding “Her Loss.” Fake appearances on “The Howard Stern Show,” NPR’s “Tiny Desk,” and “Saturday Night Live” are among them.