Was Drake at the Super Bowl? What to know after Kendrick Lamar's halftime show performance
It was another tough Sunday for Drake.
Kendrick Lamar performed during the Super Bowl halftime show, exactly one week after winning multiple Grammys for "Not Like Us," a diss track directed at the "Hotline Bling" rapper.
But while Drake may or may not be tuning into the game from wherever he is, he was not present in New Orleans. The rapper kicked off his Anita Max Win Tour on Tuesday and was scheduled to perform on Sunday in Melbourne, Australia. He also has shows in Melbourne on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Lamar took the stage during the halftime show alongside special guests SZA and Serena Williams, both of whom also happened to be Drake's ex-girlfriends.
Last year, Lamar and Drake faced off via a series of back-and-forth diss tracks, each hurling increasingly inflammatory accusations and insults at one another. It all led up to "Not Like Us," in which Lamar continued to brutally tear into Drake and rapped, in reference to Drake's album "Certified Lover Boy," "Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles."
In January, Drake filed a federal lawsuit against Universal Music Group, "the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize" the song. The lawsuit claimed UMG "intentionally sought to turn Drake into a pariah, a target for harassment, or worse."
UMG denied the accusations, saying to Paste BN, "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."
"Not Like Us" was a huge hit for Lamar, winning both record of the year and song of the year at the 2025 Grammys. Lamar did not mention Drake in either of his Grammys acceptance speeches, but fans thought his outfit choice may have been a sneaky reference to him.
The Pulitzer Prize-winner wore denim-on-denim, often called a Canadian tuxedo, a potential dig at Drake, who is Canadian.
While performing recently in Australia, Drake told fans, in a possible allusion to the fallout from his feud with Lamar, that he is still "very much alive."
Contributing: Anika Reed, KiMi Robinson and Jay Stahl