Drake was filmed giving concertgoers tens of thousands of dollars on Sunday while his arch-rival, Kendrick Lamar, dissed him at the Super Bowl.
The 38-year-old Canadian rapper — who is currently on his Anita Max Win tour — offered the gift to fans at his concert in Melbourne, Australia. In a clip posted to TikTok, Drake was seen reading signs held by the audience, including one that said, “Adonis for President,” referencing his seven-year-old son, Adonis.
“We’ll start here with you because you’re showing a lot of love to my son,” he told the fan with the sign. “On behalf of me and my son… We’re going to give you $25,000 for your family.”
Drake then gave a shout-out to another fan who was holding a sign that read: “Kiss me, it’s my birthday.”
“I can’t see from here, so I can’t judge if I’m going to kiss you,” the “One Dance” singer quipped. “But what I am going to do is I’m going to give you $20,000 and I’m going to pay for a birthday dinner for you and all your friends tomorrow night.”
He also told the fan that she and her friend could come back to the show the following night, promising to get them tickets.
During the concert, he also took a moment to express his gratitude for all his fans who came out to the show.
“It really touches my heart that — through all of that, you still take your hard-earned money, and you spend some of that money on tickets to this show to see this kid from Canada get up here and talk s***,” he said according to Billboard. “I really appreciate you. I would be nothing without you.”
Drake’s concert came as Lamar was performing at the Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans. The event was a star-studded affair with SZA, Samuel L. Jackson and Serena Williams joining Lamar as he rifled through hits like “DNA,” “Humble,” “Squabble Up” and “All the Stars.”
Fans were waiting to see if the rapper would perform “Not Like Us,” which features brutal lyrics about Drake, including allegations about his interactions with younger women.
In one line referencing Drake’s 2021 album, Lamar raps: “Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophile.” However, during the halftime performance, Lamar omitted the word pedophile as well as the n-word throughout.
Last month, Drake sued his own record label, Universal Music Group — which also represents Lamar — for defamation over “Not Like Us.”
Though Lamar is not named in the suit, the filing claims that Universal knew the pedophilia allegations were false but “chose corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.”
It additionally claims that Universal “approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track” that was “intended to convey the specific, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response.”
“Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist—let alone Drake—is illogical,” UMG told The Independent in a statement. “We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial successes.”
