Who is Greg Marella? UMG exec wipes down his Instagram page following his mention in Drake lawsuit for glazing Kendrick

Amid Drake's lawsuit against UMG and allegations that he has been promoting Kendrick Lamar on his personal Instagram account, Greg Marella has wiped his page clean.

The UMG executive has been cited in Drake's lawsuit against the company, as it outlines an instance where the former expressed appreciation for the Not Like Us rapper's music. Drake filed a lawsuit against the record label in New York back in January, accusing them of inflating Lamar's diss track against him.

As for who Greg Marella is, Marella is renowned for having played a key role in hits by several prolific artists, including Halsey, Lewis Capaldi, Lil Baby, Katy Perry, Sam Smith, Niall Horan, Migos, Marshmello, Queen Naija, Maggie Rogers, Internet Money, and more.

In the past, he worked at Kemosabe Records, though he later joined Capitol Music Group, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, where he eventually became the president of promotion and executive vice president. He also had a 16-year stint with Interscope-Geffen-A&M and MCA Records, both of which saw him serve in senior positions.

Everything we know about Drake's lawsuit against UMG as the record label slams the rapper for being unable to take a loss:

According to a part of the lawsuit uploaded on X by media personality Akademiks TV, a comment Marella left on Instagram on June 20, 2024, has been cited, and it reads as follows:

"@kendricklamar is an icon. If you love music and understand and respect what it represents,then you know how important Kendrick Lamar and his music are to the city of LA. The last 2 months have brought 12 million people in LA together the same."

Just last week, UMG moved to have Drake's lawsuit thrown out, according to Variety, noting that he's only suing because he “lost a rap battle” and resorted to legal action to “salve his wounds.”

Per the outlet, the motion states that Drake

“lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated. Instead of accepting the loss like the unbothered rap artist he often claims to be, he has sued his own record label in a misguided attempt to salve his wounds. Plaintiff’s complaint is utterly without merit and should be dismissed with prejudice.”

The filing also claims that Drake himself attested his signature on a public petition less than three years ago that called out “the trend of prosecutors using artists’ creative expression against them” by taking rap lyrics as factual. “Drake was right then and is wrong now,” the motion reads, as reported by Variety.

“Complaint’s unjustified claims against UMG are no more than Drake’s attempt to save face for his unsuccessful rap battle with Lamar.”

Per Billboard, the record label has also petitioned for a judge to halt all discovery in the rapper's defamation lawsuit, contending that he has been wrongly demanding “highly commercially sensitive documents,” which includes Lamar's record deal.

Drake, however, has since shot back, arguing that handing over this information would likely nab him a win in the case, claiming that “millions of people” around the world now think Lamar was undoubtedly calling him a pedophile. Drake’s attorney, Michael J. Gottlieb, has since issued a statement to Variety, which reads as follows:

“UMG wants to pretend that this is about a rap battle in order to distract its shareholders, artists and the public from a simple truth: a greedy company is finally being held responsible for profiting from dangerous misinformation that has already resulted in multiple acts of violence. This motion is a desperate ploy by UMG to avoid accountability, but we have every confidence that this case will proceed and continue to uncover UMG’s long history of endangering, abusing and taking advantage of its artists.”

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At the time of writing, it remains unclear why Greg Marella has cleared his Instagram account, and he has yet to issue a statement on his role in the lawsuit.

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