Drake and 21 Savage have been told to stop promoting their joint album “Her Loss” using a fictitious Vogue cover story.
The order came about a week after the release of Her Loss and two days after Vogue publisher Condé Nast sued the two rappers for the publicity stunt for $4 million USD. Prior to the release of the record, Drake and 21 Savage advertised the cover by hanging up posters throughout New York City and releasing phony copies of Vogue magazines featuring themselves.
The judge ruled that because Drake and 21 were “misleading customers” and “deceiving the public,” the false cover was probably infringing on the publisher’s trademarks. “To protect the public from misunderstanding, deception, and mistake,” they said, “it is in the public interest to give the temporary restraining order that was asked for.”
Condé Nast said in the lawsuit that, despite what Drake and 21 Savage said, neither of them had permission to make the fake magazines, nor had Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour backed them up.
Drake and 21 Savage are forbidden by the judge’s order from “using, displaying, dissented from, or distributing” the phony album cover or copies they printed, and they are also required to remove any websites and social media posts that feature the picture. The two are also forbidden from mentioning Vogue editor Anna Wintour in any way.
Judge Rakoff said that the rappers’ actions had caused “irreparable harm” to Condé Nast and that the publisher had shown that it was likely to win its trademark infringement case.
At a hearing on November 22, the judge will talk about extending the injunction.
