Drake and 21 Savage's joint album 'Her Loss' is out now. Image Source: Rolling Stones
Drake and 21 Savage are being sued.
Vogue and publisher Condé Nast, also known as Advance Magazine Publishers Inc., have taken legal action against artists Drake and 21 Savage after the two of them faked a cover of the fashion magazine to promote their joint album "Her Loss."
Condé Nast, the media company that publishes Vogue, has alleged in a legal document filed this week in the Southern District of New York and obtained by various publications that the artists' acts of having shared a bogus or fake cover on their social networks created a widespread promotional campaign based entirely on Vogue trademarks that were not authorized for use.
Drake and 21 Savage both shared a photo of themselves on the cover of Vogue on their respective social media accounts. Drake captioned the post, saying he and his brother will be in print edition tomorrow, thanking Vogue Magazine and Anna Wintour for their support and love on such a historic occasion, and adding "Her Loss" on November 4th.
Condé Nast immediately shut down the use of the fake Vogue cover and is now seeking at least $4 million in damages, punitive damages, and an end to any trademark infringement. According to the lawsuit, the rappers not only scattered the fake Vogue cover among many of their combined 135 million social media followers but also across North America's biggest metropolitan areas, as well as advertisements of the cover. The parent company's lawsuit stated that, while Drake thanked Anna Wintour in his caption, the top editor has no ties to the images shared by the artists on their social media accounts to promote their albums. The company referred to the move as a deceptive campaign.
The publisher wrote that Vogue magazine and Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour have no involvement in "Her Loss" or the promotion of it, everything is untrue, and Condé Nast has authorized none of it. According to the lawsuit, Drake and 21 Savage were asked to stop infringing activities and take proper and legal measures to avoid further public confusion, but they did not.
The fake copies of the publication went across social media; fake advertisements were put up in New York; and the issues were distributed on the streets in Miami, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. The spoof magazines were a "full expert reprint of the October issue of Vogue," with only a few pages "altered to attempt to impose marketing logos for the artists' albums." Those include images of veteran Vogue editor Anna Wintour that were digitally altered to include a Drake image and were not included in the original issue.
Although neither the artist nor their representatives have remarked on the situation, a source claims Drake is unconcerned. Drake and 21 Savage's new album, "Her Loss," was promoted with phony press appearances such as a Howard Stern discussion, an "SNL" performance, and an NPR "Tiny Desk" concert. Whereas the rest of the media seemed unconcerned, a source says "Vogue was really not happy adding but just about every outlet was fine with this and appeared to have no objections. The insider said that it was not done on purpose.
Howard Stern even mentioned the phony interview on air, saying, "He edited himself in to look like he's in our studio... Drake did such an excellent job that news organizations are reporting it as if it were true.
