Drake faces lawsuit alleging illegal online gambling, streaming manipulation
Rapper and singer Drake, left, attends an NBA basketball game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Houston Rockets on March 16, 2024, in Houston. (Photo by David J. Phillip/The Associated Press)
Rapper and singer Drake is facing an anti-racketeering lawsuit accusing him of promoting an illegal online casino and using funds from the site to inflate his music streams.
The class action suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, accuses the defendants—Drake, also known as Aubrey Drake Graham; internet influencer Adin Ross; George Nguyen, an Australian national residing in New South Wales; website Stake.us; and parent company Sweepsteaks Ltd.—of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or the RICO Act.
The plaintiffs are LaShawnna Ridley, Tiffany Hines and others.
According to the Dec. 31 suit, Drake and Ross were paid to promote Stake.us and participated in livestream gambling with company-provided cash.
In addition, the suit alleges that Drake “has deployed automated bots and streaming farms to artificially inflate play counts of his music across major platforms, such as Spotify.”
USA Today has coverage.
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