Drake and 21 Savage sued by Vogue over fake Her Loss cover

Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue magazine, has filed a lawsuit against Drake and 21 Savage for the use of Vogue's name to promote their collaborative album Her Loss, which was released on November 4.

In the 30-page lawsuit which was filed on Monday, Condé Nast claims that the rappers built the promotional campaign for their new album "entirely on the use of the VOGUE marks and the premise that Drake and 21 Savage would be featured on the cover of Vogue's next issue." Along with the social media posts of the "counterfeit" magazine, Drake thanked Vogue's editor-in-chief Anna Wintour "for the love and support in this historic moment," claiming that the magazines would be released the following day.

The lawsuit details that none of these promotional tactics were authorised by either Condé Nast or Anna Wintour. In addition to the "deceptive" social media post, the lawsuit details that the rap duo had "gone so far as to create a counterfeit issue of Vogue Magazine" and distributed the fake magazines in North America's largest metropolitan areas along with plastering posters of the cover on various streets.

"The confusion among the public is unmistakable," the lawsuit continues. As a result of the fake Vogue cover, thousands of fans were led on to believe that Vogue was featuring the rappers, as well as numerous publications who published the story. Condé Nast argues that they had attempted to contact Drake and 21 Savage numerous times to remove the content, but no action was taken and the rappers continued to use the Vogue cover as promotional material.

In response, Condé Nast is asking for $4 million from the rappers: triple the amount the profit they have made thus far from Her Loss and the "counterfeit" magazine cover. It is unclear as to whether the duo profited off the fake magazines, as they were for publicity purposes but not available for sale.

The publisher is also asking for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order to prevent the rappers from continuing to promote their album with the magazine cover along with trademark infringement.

The fake Vogue issue is one of numerous faux creations of Drake and 21 Savage in the name of promoting their new album. They also aired a video claiming guest artists on NPR's Tiny Desk series, with the rappers sitting in front of a collection of book shelves mimicking the YouTube series.

In addition, they pretended to be featured as musical guests on an episode of American live comedy show Saturday Night Live, where they posted additional promotional material mimicking the covers that the NBC usually produces to introduce artists for the show.

Thank you to @nprmusic @tinydesk for having the gang @Drake @21savage let’s go crazy 🔪🦉#HERLOSS pic.twitter.com/cBpG9SgARI

— OVO Sound (@OVOSound) November 2, 2022