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Ahead of the release of their collaborative album Her Loss, Drake and 21 Savage hyped fans with a promotional campaign that included teasers of a fake Tiny Desk appearance, as well as a fraudulent cover story on Vogue magazine. While some praised the pair for their creative marketing plan, the latter resulted in a lawsuit against the rappers.
Billboard reports Condé Nast’s lawyers filed a lawsuit against Drizzy and 21 over the “deceptive campaign,” which they deemed a “flagrant infringement” of the company’s trademark rights. They claimed the rappers exploited the “tremendous value that a cover feature in Vogue magazine carries,” as their post was not “authorized by Condé Nast.”
Drake and 21 Savage’s fake Vogue cover, shared on Instagram last week, led fans to believe a story was on the way. “Me and my brother on newsstands tomorrow!! Thanks @voguemagazine and Anna Wintour for the love and support on this historic moment,” Drake had captioned the post.
In a complaint to the New York federal court, Condé Nast doubled down on its claim that the post went up without their consent.
“Vogue magazine and its Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour have had no involvement in Her Loss or its promotion, and have not endorsed it in any way,” the company’s lawyers wrote. “Nor did Condé Nast authorize, much less support, the creation and widespread dissemination of a counterfeit issue of Vogue, or a counterfeit version of perhaps one of the most carefully curated covers in all of the publication business.”
Condé Nast’s lawyers argued that the counterfeit cover caused confusion among fans as it provided “no indication that it is anything other than the cover of an authentic Vogue issue.”
They’re asking the judge to issue an immediate injunction that blocks the use of the counterfeit cover.
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