- Rappers Drake and 21 Savage have been hit with a lawsuit from 'Vogue' magazine publisher Condé Nast.
- The publisher is asking for at least $4 million from the rappers or triple the profits from their album.
Vogue magazine publisher Condé Nast is suing rappers Drake and 21 Savage over a fake cover they created to promote the release of their joint album.
The rap duo's album, titled "Her Loss," was released Friday, but the project was preceded by an announcement Oct. 22 and then a faux press tour rollout that included a fake Saturday Night Live performance, a staged NPR Tiny Desk concert, and a fake Vogue magazine cover.
On Monday, Condé Nast filed a 30-page lawsuit against the artists arguing their publicity campaign was "built entirely on the use of Vogue" trademarks.
According to NPR, the publisher is seeking at least $4 million from the accused or triple the profits from their album — whichever is higher.
If Condé Nast wins the suit, the duo could pay well over $4 million for their phony cover. Drake's 2021 album, Certified Lover Boy, raked in an estimated $6 million from Apple Music streams alone, Parade reported.
Condé Nast is also seeking a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order to stop the rappers from using the fake magazine cover to market the album, as well as damages for trademark infringement, NPR reports.
In a now-deleted Instagram post to his 124 million followers, Drake thanked Vogue and Condé Nast's Global Chief Content Officer Anna Wintour for the feature.
According to the lawsuit, the rappers printed and distributed the "counterfeit" magazine and plastered posters of the cover in "North America's largest metropolitan areas."
—Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) November 1, 2022
Condé Nast alleges its counsel demanded the pair "cease their infringing activities" as early as Oct. 31, but nothing was done, the suit reads.
The duo's fake NPR Tiny Desk concert posted to Twitter was much more well received by its originator. In the video, the rappers appeared to be in the iconic studio gearing up to perform.
—OVO Sound (@OVOSound) November 2, 2022
"let's do it forreal tho," a tweet from NPR Music's Twitter account read.
A tweet from Complex Music that once included the video of the rappers' fake Saturday Night Live performance has since been altered to no longer display the performance.
"This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner," an attached message read.
It's unclear whether or not Drake and 21 Savage sold fake Vogue magazines for profit, but copies were distributed in several cities. The cover also was posted on walls on some city streets.
"All of this is false. And none of it has been authorized by Condé Nast," the Vogue publisher said in the lawsuit.