Vogue sues Drake and 21 Savage for fake ‘Her Loss’ magazine rollout

Drake and 21 Savage’s “Her Loss” may result in more losses after its controversial release.

The rappers’ joint album arrived with a creative rollout and public backlash after lyrics were seemingly directed at stars including Megan Thee Stallion and Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian. Before the music hit listener’s ears Friday, the duo built up hype with fake magazine covers, interviews and music sessions.

Monday, Condé Nast, Vogue magazine’s publishing company, filed a lawsuit against Drake and 21 Savage for their “flippant disregard for Condé Nast’s rights” and demanded that the artists take down social media posts, public posts and stop distribution of the “counterfeit” magazine they created around the “Her Loss” album.

The fake “Her Loss” Vogue cover contained articles and advertisements from the authentic October issue with graffiti perversions reading “Her Loss” and photo edits including one of Drake edited into a picture of magazine boss, Anna Wintour.

“Neither Condé Nast nor Anna Wintour authorized the creation of the Counterfeit Magazine,” the complaint read.

The complaint said that Hiltzick Strategies, a public relations firm listed as a defendant, emailed Condé Nast and several other recipients on Oct. 30 saying that the fake magazines would be distributed in major cities by street teams. Condé Nast replied stating that the company didn’t authorize the distribution and sent the PR firm a cease and desist for the “unauthorized use of the Vogue trademark.”

According to social media posts after the cease and desist, Condé Nast received evidence that the magazines were still being distributed leading to “widespread public confusion” and “erroneous press accounts.”

The publishing company wants the artists to take down social posts and stop creating and disseminating fake magazines; it’s also seeking statutory damages of up to $4 million dollars.

The other media outlets that were mimicked responded to the false rollouts outside of the legal system. Upon seeing Drake and 21 Savage’s fake Tiny Desk segment, NPR released a story confirming that the session did not happen.

NPR Music responded to the video clip on Twitter writing, “let’s do it forreal tho.”

Howard Stern responded to the fake show clip on Nov. 7 during Sirius XM’s “The Howard Stern Show” saying the spoof was “interesting.”

“Drake did such a good job that the news outlets are reporting on it as if it’s real,” Stern said on his show. “How great is that, though?”

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