• Warning: This article contains major spoilers for "Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy."
• The fourth and final Bridget Jones film is an adaptation of the 2013 novel of the same name.
• As with any book-to-screen adaptation, there have been changes — some big, some small.

"Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy," the fourth and final book-to-screen adaptation from Helen Fielding's best-selling series, is streaming on Peacock.

The movie centers on Bridget (Renée Zellweger) navigating life as a widow and single mother with the help of her family, friends, and former flame, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant).

Taking place four years after the death of her husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), the film sees Bridget open herself up to love again, which results in her being pursued by a younger man (Leo Woodall) as well as her son's science teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor).

As with the previous films in the series, some changes have been made in translating the story from book to screen, including Bridget's career and some details about how her relationship with her young love interest, Roxster, unfolds.

Meanwhile, Bridget's blossoming friendships with fellow mums Rebecca (Isla Fisher) and Nicolette (Leila Farzad) have been largely cut from the film.

Here are seven of the biggest differences between the book and film of "Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy"

Shazzer makes an appearance in the movie after being left out of the final book.

Shazzer does not make much of an appearance in the book. She is the only one of Bridget's close friends to leave London, having moved to Silicon Valley to become a "dot-com whizz" with her husband.

In the movie, not much is revealed about Shazzer's relationship status but she's still living in London and hosts a podcast. Shazzer is still close with Bridget, and at one point she babysits her children for a night so she can go on a date.

Isla Fisher's character, Rebecca, has a larger role in the book.

Early in the film, Bridget's neighbor shouts at her three children and threatens to send them to "Squid Game" if they don't behave.

Bridget sees this from across the road and calls her a "hero," but the neighbor doesn't appear for the rest of the film.

In the book, Bridget and the woman, who is called Rebecca, have more awkward interactions like the one in the film. Rebecca, who has two children, and Bridget eventually become friends and host playdates for one another.

When Bridget falls for Mr. Wallaker in the book, Rebecca helps her learn about his background, since her husband is his best friend.

Bridget Jones pursues an entirely different career in the movie.

In both the book and the film, Bridget tries to get herself out of a rut by returning to work a few years after Mark's death.

In the film, Bridget asks her former boss, Richard Finch (Neil Pearson), to get her a job as a producer on the morning news show "Better Woman." Miranda, Bridget's coworker and friend in "Bridget Jones' Baby," hosts the show alongside another woman called Talitha.

In the book, Bridget doesn't return to full-time work. Instead, she writes a movie script, adapting a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen called "Hedda Gabler." It's picked up by a studio, but they eventually replace Bridget with a full-time screenwriter because she is always distracted.

The film becomes a straight-to-DVD movie.

Roxster doesn't ghost Bridget Jones in the book.

The film changes Bridget's relationship with her 29-year-old "toyboy" in a number of ways.

Instead of connecting with the charming, flirty Roxster McDuff (Leo Woodall) on Twitter as she does in the book, Bridget meets him when he rescues her and her children from a tree on London's Hampstead Heath. The two then reconnect when they match on a dating app.

In the book, their relationship ends after Roxster tells Bridget he thinks he should be with someone his own age. The two meet again and Roxster tries to win Bridget back.

In the film, Roxster suddenly ghosts Bridget without explanation, only to show up at the TV studio where she works weeks later to apologize.

But in both versions, Bridget realizes that the two are at different life stages and they have an emotional goodbye.

Daniel Cleaver has a son in the movie.

In the film, Daniel, the former playboy, has a teenage son named Enzo (Alessandro Bedetti), whom he doesn't see very often.

However, after being diagnosed with a heart murmur, Daniel reevaluates his life and decides to reconnect with him.

When we meet Enzo at Bridget's New Year's Eve party at the end of the film, he has inherited his father's womanizing ways, flirting outrageously with Bridget's friends.

In the book, Daniel doesn't have a son and is an aging bachelor. He does end up in hospital because of an alcohol dependency. Afterward, Bridget and others realize they need to prioritize their friendships with Daniel and keep an eye on him.

In both the film and the book, the health scare is a wake-up call for Daniel, but for different reasons.

Bridget and Nicolette bond in the book.

In both the book and the film, Nicolette is the overbearing mother of twins who attend the same school as Bridget's son, Billy.

In the film, while Bridget is initially intimidated by Nicolette and her dedication to her children's education. But we see that her husband is a workaholic who is always on calls and her sons aren't as smart as she makes out.

The book delves deeper into Nicolette's story, revealing that her husband has been having an affair, and her world crumbles.

After Nicolette confides in Bridget, Bridget invites her over and the two spend a night drinking, eating junk food, and scrolling dating sites, cementing their unlikely friendship.

Billy doesn't struggle with Mark's death in the book.

In the film, Bridget's nine-year-old son Billy (Casper Knopf) grieves his father's death and worries about forgetting him as he grows older.

His science teacher, Mr. Wallaker, eventually helps him work through this and perform a solo at the school's Christmas concert in honor of Mark.

This storyline is absent from the book, although Bridget does note in her diary entries that both Billy and Mabel were helped by an "army of bereavement counselors and therapists" in the aftermath of Mark's death.

• "Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy" is the fourth and final installment of the rom-com franchise.
• Most of the main cast are returning.
• Here's where each returning character ends up, including Bridget Jones' parents, lovers, and close friends.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy."

"Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy," which is available to stream on Peacock, is the final chapter of the British rom-com series.

Renée Zellweger returns as the hapless and lovable diarist who now finds herself in middle age, raising two kids, and ready for love again.

The cast includes a few new faces, including Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall, who play Bridget's love interests.

There are also a number of returning cast members, including Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, and Sally Phillips, who make up Bridget's nearest and dearest.

Here's a breakdown of where every character ends up.

Bridget Jones makes a vow to start living for herself following the loss of her husband.

When audiences first met Bridget in the 2001 movie, she was a single, 30-something Londoner whose New Year's resolution was to find a nice, sensible boyfriend.

Over the course of the four films, Bridget falls in love and marries human rights barrister Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), but her path to her happily ever after wasn't exactly straightforward.

When audiences meet Bridget again in "Mad About the Boy," she's single once again but raising two children.

After embarking on an ill-fated fling with Rockster McDuff (Leo Woodall), a man twenty years her junior, Bridget finds herself falling for the stern, straight-laced science teacher, Mr. Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor).

The two share a kiss in the street following a school Christmas concert, and in the final scene of the film, Mr. Wallaker is among those seen ringing in the New Year with Bridget and her loved ones.

Bridget's former boss and boyfriend, Daniel Cleaver, has become 'Uncle Daniel' to her kids.

Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) is Bridget's former boss. As audiences will recall from the first film, after flirting via instant messaging in the office, the two embark on a relationship that ends sourly when Bridget finds out that Daniel is cheating on her with — as she put it — an "American stick insect."

While Bridget and Daniel reconnect in Thailand in the second film, "The Edge of Reason," he is absent in the third film.

When we see Daniel in "Mad About The Boy," he and Bridget have a platonic, teasing relationship, deepened by their decades of friendship. He is even referred to as "Uncle Daniel" by Bridget's children and babysits them.

Still a bachelor in his 50s, Daniel has a much younger girlfriend at the start of the film. Following a health scare, however, Daniel breaks up with her.

When audiences last see Daniel at Bridget's party, he and Bridget's colleague and friend Miranda (Sarah Solemani) have hit it off, to put it delicately.

Mark Darcy is absent, save for a few flashbacks.

In the first film, Darcy is introduced as a human rights lawyer who has known Bridget since she was a toddler, running around naked in his paddling pool.

While they made an unlikely couple, Bridget and Mark eventually get together.

However, it's revealed in "Mad About The Boy" that Mark was killed on a humanitarian mission in Sudan four years before the events of the film, leaving Bridget a widow and single mother.

As a result, Mark is mostly absent from the latest installment, except for a couple of scenes in which Bridget reminiscences about life before the tragedy.

Shazzer remains Bridget's best friend.

Shazzer is Bridget's bold, feminist friend who doesn't fear confrontation. In the first film, Bridget introduces Shazzer (Sally Phillips) as a journalist who "likes to say 'fuck' a lot."

Shazzer's personality has not changed much since the first film, and she now hosts a feminist podcast. She is last seen celebrating New Year's at Bridget's house.

Tom, another member of Bridget's inner circle, is still offering her dating advice.

Another close friend of Bridget is Tom (James Callis) an arrogant, drama-loving retired '80s pop icon.

In the first film, Tom uses his one-hit-wonder status to get laid. By the final film, he has become a life coach and is still single.

Jude is also still on the scene, having climbed the corporate ladder.

Rounding off Bridget's close friends is Jude (Shirley Henderson), the most emotional member of the friendship group.

In the first film, Jude is the head of investment at Brightlings, a fictional bank, and cries on multiple occasions to Bridget about her relationship problems.

In "Mad About The Boy," Jude has leveled up at work, but Bridget is not sure whether she is a "COO" or "CEO."

Bridget's beloved dad, Colin, is sadly no longer around.

Bridget has always been close with her father, Colin (Jim Broadbent), even after her he and mother briefly split during the first movie. But Bridget does not have Colin as her rock in "Mad About The Boy."

Partway through the film, a flashback scene reveals that Colin died a few years prior. Before his death, Colin tries to persuade Bridget to live life to the fullest after he's gone and not wallow in grief.

Toward the end of the film, Bridget writes in her diary that she realizes what Colin meant by this while watching her son, Billy, overcome his grief to give with a genuine smile at his school's Christmas concert.

Bridget's mom, Pamela, has moved into a nursing home.

Despite often despairing of her daughter's sartorial choices and approach to dating, Pamela (Gemma Jones) has stuck by Bridget's side throughout the films.

In "Mad About The Boy," she has moved into a nursing home, which Bridget and the rest of the family have been instructed to refer to as a "hotel," alongside her lifelong pal Una (Celia Imrie).

• "Emilia Pérez" star Karla Sofía Gascón has deactivated her X account following backlash over old tweets.
• Fans had highlighted negative tweets that appear to have been posted by Gascón as recently as 2021.
• "I can no longer allow this campaign of hate and misinformation to affect me and my family," Gascón said.

"Emilia Pérez" star Karla Sofía Gascón has deactivated her X account after coming under fire for controversial past social media posts.

The actor, who made history as the first transgender performer to be nominated in the Oscars' best actress category, said in a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter that she apologized for her "erroneous" past opinions and that she had deactivated her account as she could "no longer allow this campaign of hate and misinformation" to affect her or her family.

"I have been threatened with death, insulted, abused and harassed to the point of exhaustion," she added. "I have a wonderful daughter to protect, whom I love madly and who supports me in everything."

In a separate statement via Netflix, the actor acknowledged the "conversation" around her past posts, adding: "As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain."

On January 30, the Canadian journalist Sarah Hagi shared screenshots on X of posts that appeared to have been made by Gascón. Business Insider couldn't verify all the screenshots before Gascón's account was deleted.

The screenshots contained disparaging remarks about Muslims and Islam.

The posts were written in Spanish but translated through Google by Hagi. This led more social media users to search for and share screenshots of other posts that appeared to be from Gascón.

Gascón wrote in other posts, seen by BI, that all religions should be banned. In a post from 2020, the actor referred to the COVID-19 vaccine as "the Chinese vaccine" and said it had a chip inside it.

Variety reported that in a post shared in 2021, Gascón referred to the Oscars ceremony that year as an "Afro-Korean festival" and "ugly, ugly gala." That year Daniel Kaluuya, a Black British actor, and Yuh-jung Youn, a South Korean actor, both won Oscars.

Variety also highlighted another deleted post from 2020 that was shared days after George Floyd's death in which Gascón referred to him as "a drug addict and a hustler."

Representatives for Netflix, Gascón, and the Academy did not respond to requests for comment from BI.

On January 31, Zoe Saldaña, Gascón's costar, said in response to the controversy during a Q&A for "Emilia Pérez" in London: "I'm still processing everything that has transpired in the last couple of days, and I'm sad. It makes me really sad because I don't support [it], and I don't have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group."

Since January 31, Gascón has shared two more statements on Instagram defending herself. On February 1, she appeared in an hourlong interview with CNN en Español, where she broke down in tears while defending herself from accusations of Islamophobia.

'Emilia Pérez' is the most nominated film of the 2025 Oscars

The controversy around Gascón has come after critics of "Emilia Pérez," which won four Golden Globes and received 13 Oscar nominations, voiced their opinions about the film on social media, calling out its problematic portrayal of Mexico and transphobic stereotypes.

Gascón has been one of the film's main defenders.

On Tuesday, the Brazilian publication Folha de S.Paulo published a video interview in which Gascón criticized people who were tearing her down to support Fernanda Torres, one of her competitors for the best actress Oscar.

In response, some sought to have Gascón disqualified from the Oscars, accusing her of breaking an Academy rule prohibiting those involved with a film from sharing public communication that casts a competing movie in a "negative or derogatory light."

Variety reported on Wednesday that Gascón didn't break the rule because she didn't comment on Torres' performance in "I'm Still Here."

• People can't get enough of Timothée Chalamet's unusual marketing campaign for "A Complete Unknown."
• He performed deep-cut Bob Dylan songs on "Saturday Night Live!" and arrived at the London premiere on a rental bike.
• He's nominated for an Oscar and these stunts could help get the attention of the Academy Awards voting panel.

From rocking up to a premiere on a rental bike to performing a medley of Bob Dylan songs on "Saturday Night Live!" Timothée Chalamet has taken an unusual approach to his press tour for his latest movie, "A Complete Unknown."

These unconventional stunts are a smart tactic to break through the noise during a competitive awards season, marketing experts told Business Insider.

If they pay off, they could help clinch Chalamet his first Oscar, making him the youngest best actor winner in Academy Awards history.

Chalamet keeps going viral

In the last few months, Chalamet has gone viral for a number of unexpected side quests while promoting the James Mangold-directed biopic. Before the publicity campaign began in earnest, he showed up to a lookalike contest of himself last October, making him appear "down-to-earth," Katharina Stolley, a marketing lecturer specializing in the creative industries at the University of Birmingham, UK, said.

He kept up the stunts as the film hit theaters in December by surprising people with his "elite ball knowledge" on an ESPN panel, copying an unexpectedly casual and memed outfit of Dylan's at the New York premiere, and arriving to the London red carpet on a bright green e-bike that has become synonymous with young Londoners.

Then there was his circuit of interviews with niche internet celebrities with cult followings: Theo Von, Brittany Broski, and the eccentric journalist Nardwuar, who typically interviews musicians not actors.

Chalamet then used a more traditional promotional tactic this weekend: hosting the sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live!"

Even then he pushed the envelope, becoming the first actor to host and perform as an episode's musical guest, singing a selection of deep-cut Dylan tracks.

The appearance gave those who have not yet seen "A Complete Unknown" a glimpse of Chalamet's take on Dylan, while "endearing him to a new, wider audience," said Markus Wohlfiel, a senior lecturer in marketing at De Montfort University, UK.

Stolley said that these stunts cultivate a "relatable public image" and "reveal his commitment to staying connected with his audience."

Chalamet is at the center of a clever "guerrilla marketing campaign"

They also amount to, more or less, free publicity. Searchlight Pictures, the Disney-owned production and distribution company behind the film, rolled out a traditional marketing campaign for "A Complete Unknown," including press junkets, as well as advertising in print and in cinemas and on billboards.

But Wohlfiel said Chalamet's stunts have collectively delivered a "clever out-of-the-box guerrilla marketing campaign."

"As everyone is talking about it in the traditional and social media, creating interest in the actor and the movie, they are clearly achieving their objectives with hardly any financial investment," he said of Chalamet and his publicity team.

Carl Jones, a senior lecturer in digital media at the University of Westminster, UK, agreed that Chalamet's stunts are a cost-effective way of getting his name — and, by extension, the movie — out there.

"This type of activity is a free way to get a film talked about in the media. Usually advertising a film costs Hollywood studios millions of dollars, but doing a stunt only costs the price of the stunt," he said.

Better yet, the gambits match the theme of "A Complete Unknown," which covers a controversial period in Dylan's career in the 1960s when he switched from acoustic to electric guitar and took a gamble on a new sound; Chalamet is similarly walking an unorthodox path as a young star.

Chalamet's promotion of 'A Complete Unknown' has a second target — awards voters.

Although the actor lost out on a Golden Globe earlier this month, he is still in the running for a BAFTA, SAG Award, Critics' Choice Award, and the most coveted of all, an Oscar. These awards are chosen by panels of industry insiders and critics whom nominees must impress.

Ashanti Omkar, a film, TV, and culture critic and broadcaster who is a member of the voting body for the BAFTAs, said Chalamet's virality could help keep him on voters' radars.

"Promotions which are memorable can stick in the minds of busy voters who are juggling their full time jobs while also assessing what to vote for," Omkar said. "The stunts here are great for visibility, but it is Timothée's sheer hard work and talent that has gotten him this level of awards buzz for 'A Complete Unknown.'"

• Christopher Nolan's follow-up to "Oppenheimer" is based on the ancient Greek poem by Homer.
• "The Odyssey" stars Matt Damon as the hero Odysseus alongside Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Anne Hathaway.
• Here's everything we know about the film.

After his box-office hit, award-sweeping "Oppenheimer" movie, Christopher Nolan is adapting Homer's Greek epic poem "The Odyssey" for his next film.

Universal Pictures announced the movie in late 2024, saying it would be shot using "brand new Imax film technology" and that it would arrive in theaters on July 17, 2026.

Here's everything we know about the film so far.

Matt Damon will lead a star-studded cast in "The Odyssey."

Nolan has a reputation for drawing ensemble casts of A-listers, but "The Odyssey" may be his biggest project yet.

Universal announced on Monday that Damon will play the film's lead hero, Odysseus, and shared a first look of the actor in his costume.

Matt Damon is Odysseus. A film by Christopher Nolan, #TheOdysseyMovie is in theaters July 17, 2026. pic.twitter.com/7a5YbfqVfG

— odysseymovie (@odysseymovie) February 17, 2025

Other stars linked to the film include Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Himesh Patel, Lupita Nyong'o, Benny Safdie, Bill Irwin, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, Jesse Garcia, Will Yun Lee, Samantha Morton, Corey Hawkins, Nick Tarabay, Jimmy Gonzales, Maurice Compte, Rafi Gavron, Shiloh Fernandez, and Mia Goth.

Damon, Hathaway, Pattinson, Patel, Safdie, Irwin, and Elliot Page have all previously worked with Nolan.

Hathaway confirmed the casting to Women's Wear Daily in December 2024, shortly before Universal announced the film.

Holland told the "Dish" podcast in December 2024 that he's in the movie but didn't "know anything" about the plot.

Other actors, such as Bernthal, Fernandez, Yee, Garcia, Leguizamo, and Gonzales, seemingly confirmed they would be in the film by posting reports of their castings on their Instagram.

No other roles have been announced for any of the actors, but the major characters left in the story include Odysseus' son Telemachus, the beguiling witch Circe, the monstrous one-eyed cyclops known as Polyphemus, and Poseidon, the sea god.

"The Odyssey" is one of the foundational stories of Western literature.

Homer is the attributed author of two ancient Greek poems that were composed in the 8th or 7th century BC, both of which tell the story of the Trojan War.

"The Iliad" narrates the end of the war, while "The Odyssey" tells of the 10-year struggle by Odysseus to return to his island home, Ithaka.

During the journey, Odysseus and his crew fight against a man-eating cyclops, powerful giants, and sirens. They defeat witches and sea monsters, and anger Zeus and Poseidon. But Odysseus has Athena on his side, trying to help him get home.

Meanwhile, a band of suitors are trying to take over Odysseus' kingdom in Ithaca, supplanting his son Telemachus and convincing Penelope to marry one of them.

In a dramatic conclusion, Odysseus disguises himself as a beggar and sneaks back onto the island, where he observes the actions of the suitors before reclaiming his family and kingdom.

This will be Nolan's first film about Greek mythology, breaking away from his regular sci-fi and war films. Nolan will also write the script.

Shooting will take place in Sicily, Morocco, and the UK and is scheduled to begin in Spring 2025.

Nolan's "The Odyssey" will be partly filmed on the island of Favignana near Sicily, Variety reported.

Known in ancient times as Aegusa, or "goat island," it's thought to be the inspiration for the fantastical island where Odysseus lands with his crew and stops to rest, barbecue goats, and drink wine before his run-in with the Cyclops.

Shooting on the island, which is set to begin sometime in the Spring, is being handled by the Italian company Wildside, which also oversaw the production of Edward Berger's Oscar-nominated drama "Conclave" in Rome.

Per Variety, the scenes shot in Sicily are said to take up the bulk of the mythical action in the movie, while locations in the UK and Morocco are also being used.

Nolan's film could beat "Troy" as the most commercially successful Homer adaptation.

Several filmmakers have brought Homer's work to screen over the years, including the Oscar-winning Coen brothers and Oscar-nominated German director Wolfgang Petersen.

Petersen's "Troy," which premiered in 2004 and starred Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, was based on Homer's "The Illiad." It was the most commercially successful Homer adaptation, grossing $497 million worldwide. However, it received mixed reviews, with some criticizing it for not translating Homer's story well. The film holds a 53% Tomatometer rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

Pitt told The New York Times Magazine in 2019 that he was "disappointed" by the film, and the experience made him pivot toward "quality stories" for the rest of his career.

The Coen Brothers' "O Brother, Where Are Thou" and the 2004 "The Spongebob Squarepants Movie" are two other Hollywood that are movies loosely based on "The Odyssey."

Homer's work has also been adapted into multiple TV series, including 1997's "The Odyssey," which starred Christopher Lee and Vanessa Williams.

The most recent adaptation was "The Return," directed by Italian filmmaker Uberto Pasolini and starring Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus. The film, which is a retelling of the final sections of the epic poem, received positive reviews from critics but took less than $1 million worldwide.

• Drake and Kendrick Lamar, once collaborators early in their careers, are now actively beefing.
• Their feud reached a fever pitch in May 2024, when Lamar dropped the diss track "Not Like Us."
• Now, Drake is suing Universal Music Group for allowing the song's release.

Drake and Kendrick Lamar's explosive feud has captivated the hip-hop world — but as Drake notes in his diss track "Push Ups," the two have an even more tangled, contentious history than meets the eye.

"That fucking song y'all got did not start the beef with us," Drake raps. "This shit been brewing in a pot, now I'm heating up."

The song in question is Future and Metro Boomin's hit single "Like That," released on March 22, 2024. It features Lamar issuing a challenge to both Drake and J. Cole, considered by many to be the three biggest rappers working today.

Lamar's taunt ignited a diss-track war in April and May, with Drake and Lamar hurling eight more diss tracks back and forth.

At first, fans delighted in a whiff of fresh beef. Diss battles are common in hip-hop, as rappers use them to showcase their reflexes, tenacity, and songwriting skills.

Feuds can also be a savvy marketing tactic to help artists boost streams and sales. "Like That," for instance, reigned atop the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, and "We Don't Trust You" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Later, both Drake and Lamar climbed Hot 100 with various jabs, including "Push Ups," "Euphoria," and "Family Matters."

However, as Drake and Lamar continued to clash, Drake escalated his attacks to the courts, launching a legal complaint against Spotify and suing Universal Music Group (his own label's umbrella company), accusing both of artificially inflating streams of Lamar's fan-favorite diss track "Not Like Us."

How did we get here? Here's everything to know about Drake and Lamar's relationship, both past and present.

Hannah Getahun contributed to an earlier version of this story.

Drake and Lamar have been taking shots at each other since 2013

Drake and Lamar may have started out as friends, or at least trusted colleagues. They released two collaborations in 2011 ("Buried Alive Interlude" on Drake's album and "Poetic Justice" on Lamar's album) and teamed up with A$AP Rocky for the 2012 hit "F**kin' Problems." Lamar also opened for Drake's Club Paradise Tour in 2012.

Their bad blood likely began when Lamar declared he was better than all the rising rap stars, including Drake and J. Cole, during a guest verse on Big Sean's 2013 song "Control."

"And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake, Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller / I got love for you all, but I'm tryna murder you n*****," he rapped.

Drake apparently responded on his own song, "The Language," from the 2013 album "Nothing Was the Same" — though he didn't call out Lamar by name.

"I don't know why they been lying but your shit is not that inspiring," Drake raps. "Bank account statement just look like I'm ready for early retirement / Fuck any n**** that's talking that shit just to get a reaction."

Since then, Drake and Lamar have seemed to make small digs at each other in both music and interviews.

In 2015, Lamar released "King Kunta" as a single from his acclaimed album, "To Pimp a Butterfly." In the song, he mocks an unnamed "rapper with a ghostwriter."

Although Lamar hasn't confirmed who the "King Kunta" lyric is about, Drake has been repeatedly accused of using ghostwriters by rappers like Meek Mill and Pusha T.

J. Cole entered the feud after appearing on Drake's 'First Person Shooter' in October 2023

Drake released his collaboration with J. Cole, "First Person Shooter," as a single from his latest album, "For All the Dogs."

In the braggadocious song, J. Cole references Lamar as "K-Dot" (his former stage name) and Drake as "Aubrey" (as in Aubrey Graham, his legal name) when listing the biggest names in hip-hop: "Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? / We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali."

Drake ends the song by comparing his success to that of the late Michael Jackson, one of the best-selling artists in history. "First Person Shooter" debuted atop the Hot 100 in October 2023, earning Drake his 13th No. 1 song on the chart, the same total as Jackson.

Five months later, Lamar's verse in "Like That" directly references those lyrics, as well as the song's title.

"Fuck sneak dissin', first-person shooter, I hope they came with three switches," Lamar raps. "Motherfuck the big three, n****, it's just big me."

One month after 'Like That' dropped, Cole fired back at Lamar, then apologized two days later

J. Cole didn't comment on Lamar's "Like That" verse until April 5, 2024, when he released a 12-track EP, "Might Delete Later," featuring Gucci Mane, Ari Lennox, and others.

The first verse of the final track, "7 Minute Drill," appears to be a direct response to Lamar, who Cole implies is losing popularity.

"He still doing shows, but fell off like the Simpsons / Your first shit was classic, your last shit was tragic / Your second shit put n***** to sleep, but they gassed it / Your third shit was massive and that was your prime / I was trailing right behind and I just now hit mine," Cole raps.

Fans believe Cole is referencing 2012's "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" ("classic"), 2022's "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" ("tragic"), 2015's "To Pimp a Butterfly" ("gassed"), and 2017's "Damn" ("massive"), respectively.

However, two days after the song was released, Cole apologized to Lamar during his performance at the Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina.

"I just want to come up here and publicly be like, bruh, that was the lamest, goofiest shit," Cole said in a video shared on X. "And I pray that y'all are like, forgive a n**** for the misstep and I can get back to my true path. Because I ain't gonna lie to y'all. The past two days felt terrible."

Cole said he felt conflicted because he respects Lamar but felt pressure from his peers and fans to respond.

Cole said releasing "7 Minute Drill" (and the discourse it inspired) didn't "sit right with my spirit," adding that he hoped Lamar, who he describes as "one of the greatest motherfuckers to ever touch a fuckin' microphone," wasn't hurt by his words.

Representatives for Lamar and Cole did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Future and Metro Boomin stirred more trouble with 'We Still Don't Trust You'

On April 12, 2024, Future and Metro Boomin released their second collaborative album, "We Still Don't Trust You." While neither rapper directly dissed Drake, they enlisted The Weeknd and A$AP Rocky to do their bidding.

In the eighth track, "All To Myself," The Weeknd references his decision not to sign with Drake's OVO label earlier in his career, which reportedly led to a falling out between the two Canadian stars.

"They could never diss my brothers, baby / When they got leaks in they operation / I thank God that I never signed my life away / And we never do the big talk / They shooters makin' TikToks / Got us laughin' in the Lambo," The Weeknd raps.

On the later track, "Show of Hands," Rocky references the rumor that he had sex with Sophie Brussaux, the mother of Drake's son, before Drake did.

"N***** in they feelings over women, what, you hurt or something? / I smash before you birthed, son, Flacko hit it first, son," Rocky raps.

Rocky and Drake had appeared to be friends until the "F**kin' Problems" rapper began to date Rihanna, who previously had a will-they-won't-they relationship with Drake.

However, Rocky's diss wasn't exactly unprovoked. In "Fear of Heights," the fourth track on "For All the Dogs," Drake mocks both Rocky and Rihanna, implying sex with his ex-girlfriend was "average" and saying Rocky "can't leave" because they have children together, evoking a classic sexist trope known as "baby trapping."

Drake and Kendrick's diss track battle begins in earnest

One day after the release of "We Still Don't Trust You," Drake dropped his response, setting off a back-and-forth exchange of barbs in diss tracks that would last through the spring.

April 13, 2024: "Push Ups" (Drake)

Drake spends most of the four-minute track dissing Lamar, although he reserves a few shots for Future, Metro Boomin, J. Cole, The Weeknd, and Rick Ross.

Ross quickly recorded and released a response, "Champagne Moments," in which he calls Drake a "white boy," claims the rapper got a nose job, and accuses him of stealing his flow from Lil Wayne.

April 19, 2024: "Taylor Made Freestyle" (Drake)

This track is best known for Drake's ill-advised use of AI to generate verses from the late Tupac Shakur, aka 2pac, and Snoop Dogg. Many fans criticized this move, particularly as Shakur was unable to consent.

Snoop Dogg responded to the song with a jokey Instagram video in which he reacts to messages about Drake using his voice.

On April 24, 2024, Billboard reported that Shakur's estate had sent Drake a cease-and-desist letter for abusing his likeness, calling it a "blatant abuse" of his legacy.

Two days later, Drake removed "Taylor Made Freestyle" from social media and streaming platforms.

April 30, 2024: "Euphoria" (Kendrick Lamar)

After laying low for much of April, Lamar surprise-released "Euphoria," a scorching six-minute diss track aimed explicitly at Drake.

May 3, 2024: "6:16 in LA" (Kendrick Lamar)

Days later, Lamar released another diss track on his Instagram. The title may refer to Shakur's birthday, June 16, or possibly Father's Day, which ties into Lamar's insults about Drake's parenting skills.

May 3, 2024: "Family Matters" (Drake)

The same day, Drake released this seven-and-a-half-minute response to Lamar's back-to-back diss tracks, along with a music video that depicts a red minivan similar to the one on the cover of Lamar's "Good Kid, M.A.A.d City," being driven across the border to Canada and destroyed.

Later in the video, Drake is shown having dinner at the same Chinese restaurant Lamar raps about in "Euphoria."

May 3, 2024: "Meet the Grahams" (Kendrick Lamar)

Lamar dropped "Meet the Grahams" less than an hour after Drake released "Family Matters." The song is framed as an open letter to Drake's family, with Lamar directly addressing his then-6-year-old son, Adonis, his mother, Sandra, and his father, Dennis.

May 4, 2024: "Not Like Us" (Kendrick Lamar)

The next morning, Lamar unleashed another diss track: his crown jewel, "Not Like Us."

Throughout the four-and-a-half-minute diss track, Lamar accuses Drake of pedophilic behavior and associating with questionable people, including Baka Not Nice, a rapper signed to OVO who pleaded guilty to assault in 2015. (As Business Insider previously reported, Drake's entourage has a history of violence, but he has never been publicly accused of sexual misconduct.)

The cover art for "Not Like Us" is an aerial shot of Drake's home in Toronto, covered in pins that resemble those used by sex offender registries.

May 5, 2024: "The Heart Part 6" (Drake)

Drake's response to "Meet the Grahams" and "Not Like Us" denies many of Lamar's claims in the track and says he's "disgusted" by the suggestion that he's "fucking young girls." He also says Lamar's team is filled with "clowns" who are feeding him false information. The song's title is a reference to Lamar's "The Heart" series.

Drake also seemed to suggest he's bowing out of the feud with Lamar.

After the release of Not Like Us,' a security guard outside Drake's Toronto mansion was shot

On May 7, 2024, a spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service confirmed to BI that Drake's security guard suffered a gunshot wound while standing outside his front gates.

There were also reports of several people trying to break into the property.

Amid the incidents, Drake complained on Instagram about the media helicopters surrounding his home.

Lamar performed 'Not Like Us' five times at his Juneteenth concert

On June 19, 2024, Lamar hosted a one-off concert to celebrate Juneteenth called "The Pop Out: Ken & Friends," which was live-streamed on Amazon Prime Video and Twitch.

The event featured up-and-coming West Coast rappers and major Californian stars, including Dr. Dre, Jay Rock, and Tyler the Creator. Lamar closed the night with his own set, kicking it off with "Euphoria."

During the performance, Lamar added a new line, "Give me Tupac's ring back and I might give you a little respect," referring to reports that Drake had bought a ring that belonged to Shakur.

Later in the set, Lamar performed "6:16 in LA" and "Like That." Lamar ended the night by performing "Not Like Us" five times in a row (six including an instrumental version). He was joined onstage by a crowd of West Coast performers, athletes, and gang members.

The concert was widely hailed as Lamar's victory lap.

On July 4, 2024, Lamar released the long-awaited music video for 'Not Like Us'

Exactly two months after releasing "Not Like Us," which debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100, Lamar released a music video packed with references to Drake.

During one scene, Lamar is joined by his fianceé, Whitney Alford, and their two young children.

The video ends with Lamar putting an owl in a cage; the logo for Drake's label, OVO, is an owl.

Lamar surprised fans by dropping his new album 'GNX' before the end of the year

After months of silence, Lamar surprise-released the 12-track album on November 22, 2024.

While "GNX" doesn't include any explicitly anti-Drake tracks like "Euphoria" or "Not Like Us," it includes several apparent references to their feud and its ripple effects.

"Snoop posted 'Taylor Made,' I prayed it was the edibles / I couldn't believe it, it was only right for me to let it go," Lamar raps in the album's opening track, "Wacced Out Murals."

The album's 10th track is called "Heart Pt. 6," allowing Lamar to reclaim the title from Drake.

"GNX" garnered positive initial reviews from critics, rounding off a transformative and triumphant year for Lamar.

Drake's company launched two legal actions against Universal Music Group and Spotify

On November 25, 2024, Drake took his feud with Lamar into legal territory.

Drake's company, Frozen Moments, filed a pre-action petition in a New York court against Universal Music Group (UMG) — the record company that owns Lamar's label Interscope and Drake's label Republic Records — as well as the streaming giant Spotify.

The petition accuses both UMG and Spotify of using illicit methods, such as bots and payola (otherwise known as "pay-for-play"), to inflate streams of "Not Like Us."

The filing also claims that "Not Like Us" caused Drake to suffer "economic harm."

Hours after the filing made headlines, Billboard unearthed another action by Drake's company, filed the same day in Texas court. The second petition claims that UMG "funneled payments" to the radio conglomerate iHeartRadio in order to boost spins of "Not Like Us."

Drake's lawyers alleged that UMG could have blocked "Not Like Us" from being released because it "attacked the character of another one of UMG's most prominent artists, Drake, by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts, harboring sex offenders and committing other criminal sexual acts," per Billboard.

"The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue," a spokesperson for UMG told BI.

"No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear," the spokesperson added.

Representatives for Lamar and Drake did not immediately respond to BI's requests for comment. A representative from Spotify declined to comment.

In January, Drake sued UMG for spreading a 'false and malicious narrative'

In a defamation lawsuit filed January 15 in federal court, Drake claimed UMG "approved, published and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track" which 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," per The New York Times.

The suit also accuses UMG of valuing "corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists," citing the security guard who was injured outside Drake's home as an example of the song's repercussions. (The cover art for "Not Like Us" is a photo of Drake's home in Toronto, covered in red sex-offender markers.)

Drake withdrew his November legal action filed in New York against UMG and Spotify in favor of filing the new defamation suit in federal court.

Representatives for Drake and UMG didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from BI.

Lamar won five Grammys for 'Not Like Us,' including record and song of the year

Lamar was the most-awarded artist at the 67th annual Grammy Awards, where "Not Like Us" swept its nominations for best music video, best rap song, best rap performance, record of the year, and song of the year.

Lamar did not mention Drake by name in either of his televised speeches, but much of the crowd sang along to "Not Like Us" as he made his way to the stage.

Lamar did praise "all the West Coast artists," calling them "the cats that inspired me to be the emcee I am today."

"This is what it's about, man, because at the end of the day, nothing more powerful than rap music," Lamar said while accepting song of the year. "I don't care what it is. We are the culture that's gonna always stay here and live forever."

Lamar didn't mince words while performing 'Not Like Us' at the Super Bowl

One week after the Grammys, Lamar took the field in New Orleans to headline the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show.

Lamar performed a medley of recent hits, including "Euphoria" and "Not Like Us" as the penultimate song.

Although Lamar omitted the word "pedophile" from the broadcast, he clearly rapped several lines that reference his nemesis, including "Say, Drake, I hear you like 'em young" — while looking directly at the camera — and "Tryna strike a chord and it's probably A minor," which appeared to have the whole crowd singing along.

At one point during the song, the camera cut to Serena Williams crip walking — an interesting choice for a guest given that she and Drake sparked dating rumors back in 2015. Seven years later, Drake mocked the star athlete and her husband, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, in in the 2022 track "Middle of the Ocean."

In "Not Like Us," Lamar chastises Drake for disparaging Williams: "N**** better not speak on Serena."

At the end of Lamar's halftime performance at Caesars Superdome, lights in the crowd spelled out the words, "Game over."

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

• Kendrick Lamar released a surprise new album titled "GNX" on November 22.
• The album reclaims the song name "heart pt. 6," which Drake previously used for a diss track.
• Here's what you need to know about the feud that took over hip-hop this year.

Kendrick Lamar seems to be taking another victory lap over his bitter public beef with Drake by releasing a brand new album.

On November 22, the rapper shocked fans by debuting his sixth studio album, "GNX" — and of course it makes reference to his closely-followed feud with the Canadian star.

For those not following, Lamar and Drake's long-running feud reignited in March when Lamar dissed Drake and J. Cole on Future and Metro Boomin's track "Like That" from their latest collaborative album, "We Don't Trust You." This spiraled into a diss track war in April and May, with Cole, Drake, Rick Ross, and Lamar releasing new songs.

After releasing back-to-back tracks in early May, both Lamar and Drake stopped abruptly. Fans and critics had already declared Lamar the winner of the beef, but the rapper has not stopped poking the bear.

In July, Lamar reignited the feud with the "Not Like Us" music video, which seems to have numerous references to the beef. At one point in the video, Lamar hits a pinata shaped like an owl, the symbol of Drake's label OVO, suggesting that he has defeated his rival.

A month prior, Lamar also rapped four of his five diss tracks during his "The Pop Out: Ken & Friends" one-off concert.

At first, fans encouraged the beef between Lamar and Drake. Diss battles, which rappers use to prove themselves, are common in hip-hop, and it was seen as some friendly competition between the genre's heavyweights.

Feuds can also be a clever marketing tactic to help artists boost streams and sales. "Like That," for instance, topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for weeks, and "We Don't Trust You" debuted at the No.1 spot on the Billboard 200. Lamar's diss track, "Euphoria," and Drake's "Push Ups" have also climbed the Billboard chart in May.

The feud took a dark turn in the first week of May when Drake and Lamar released four and two diss tracks, respectively. These tracks were more aggressive, with both stars making unverified allegations of sexual assault, pedophilia, and domestic abuse against each other.

Here's what to know about the feud that took over hip-hop.

Drake and Lamar have been making digs at each other since 2013

Lamar and Drake started out as friends, with Lamar opening for Drake's "Club Paradise" tour in 2012. The pair's feud began when Lamar rapped that he was better than all the rising rap stars, including Drake and Cole, when he featured on Big Sean's 2013 song "Control."

"And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake, Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller / I got love for you all, but I'm tryna murder you n*****," he rapped.

Drake appeared to respond on the track "The Language" from his 2013 album, "Nothing Was the Same," rapping: "I don't know why they been lyin' but your shit is not that inspirin'/ Bank account statement just look like I'm ready for early retirement / Fuck any n**** that's talking that shit just to get a reaction."

The two rappers last featured on the same song in 2013 and, since then, have made small digs at each other in their tracks and in interviews.

In 2015, many fans believe that Lamar accused Drake of using a ghostwriter, pointing to Lamar's 2015 track "King Kunta," where he raps, "I can dig rappin', but a rapper with a ghostwriter? / What the fuck happened?"

Lamar hasn't confirmed if the "King Kunta" lyric is about Drake.

Later that year, Meek Mill also accused Drake of using a ghostwriter in a since-deleted post on X, which Drake denied in a 2019 interview with Rap Radar.

The pair have also taken different paths artistically, with Lamar earning critical acclaim, including winning a Pulitzer prize for "Damn" in 2018 and 17 Grammys. Drake is more commercially successful, with 15 songs with over a billion streams on Spotify compared to Kendrick's five.

Cole entered the beef after appearing on Drake's 'For All The Dogs'

Drake's 2023 track "First Person Shooter," featuring Cole, is all about the two being the greatest rappers ever. Cole, who is friends with Lamar, references him in the song when talking about being the "Big 3" of the Hip Hop world.

"Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?" Cole raps, referring to Lamar's nickname, "K-Dot," and Drake's birth name Aubrey. "We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali."

Lamar was rumored to be featured in the song too, though that never materialized.

Drake ends the song by comparing his success to that of the late Michael Jackson, who is the sixth best-selling artist of all time. In October 2023, Drake scored his 13th Billboard Hot 100 No.1, tying with Jackson.

Lamar's verse in "Like That" alludes to those lyrics, the song title "First Person Shooter," and Drake's 2023 album title, "For All the Dogs."

"Motherfuck the big three, n****, it's just big me," Lamar raps, adding later. "Fuck sneak dissin', first-person shooter, I hope they came with three switches."

"N****, Prince outlived Mike Jack'," Lamar raps later, referencing a 2017 song, "Mask Off (Remix)," where he compares himself to Prince. Prince and Jackson also had a long-standing beef when they were alive.

Lamar ends the verse referencing Drake's latest album: "'Fore all your dogs gettin' buried /That's a K with all these nines, he gon' see Pet Sematary (Yeah)."

A week after the song dropped in March, Drake appeared to respond to Lamar during a concert in Florida as part of his "It's All A Blur Tour: Big As In What?" with Cole.

"A lot of people ask me how I'm feeling. I'mma let you know I'm feeling," Drake said in a video shared on X. "I got my fucking head up high, my back straight, I'm 10 fucking toes down in Florida and anywhere else I go. And I know that no matter what, it's not a n**** on this earth that could ever fuck with me in my life!"

Cole fired back at Lamar, then apologized two days later

Cole did not publicly comment on Lamar's "Like That" verse until April 5, when he released a 12-track EP, "Might Delete Later," featuring Gucci Mane, Ari Lennox, and others.

The first verse of the final track, "7 Minute Drill," appears to be a direct response to Lamar, who Cole implies is losing popularity. Rolling Stone's Andre Gee wrote that the title refers to a military drill in which officers have to explain how to respond to an enemy attack.

"He still doin' shows, but fell off like the Simpsons / Your first shit was classic, your last shit was tragic / Your second shit put n***** to sleep, but they gassed it / Your third shit was massive and that was your prime / I was trailin' right behind and I just now hit mine," Cole raps.

Fans believe Cole's bar about Lamar's second album references the critically-acclaimed "To Pimp a Butterfly," as most people don't count 2011's "Section.80" as his first. "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City," is Lamar's actual second album.

Rolling Stone's Gee and Pitchfork's Alphonse Pierre panned Cole's track for not being aggressive enough.

"He doesn't have the heart for the lying, disrespect, and animosity it requires to make an effective diss track," Pierre wrote.

Two days after the song was released, Cole apologized to Lamar during his performance at the Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina. It came after hip-hop's loudest voices, namely Joe Budden, expected Cole to continue the beef onstage. Instead, he shocked the hip-hop world and apologized.

"I just want to come up here and publicly be like, bruh, that was the lamest, goofiest shit," Cole said in a video shared on X. "And I pray that y'all are like, forgive a n**** for the misstep and I can get back to my true path. Because I ain't gonna lie to y'all. The past two days felt terrible."

Cole said he felt conflicted because he respected Lamar but felt pressure from his peers and fans to respond.

Cole said his diss verse, and the discourse surrounding it, didn't "sit right with my spirit," adding that he hoped Lamar, who he describes as "one of the greatest motherfucker's to ever touch a fuckin' microphone," wasn't hurt by his words.

"If he did, my n****, I got my chin out. Take your best shot, I'ma take that shit on the chin boy, do what you do. All good. It's love," he said.

Cole was initially mocked by fans for backing down, but they have since praised him for stepping out of the situation before the beef intensified.

Representatives for Lamar and Cole did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Future and Metro Boomin stirred more trouble with 'We Still Don't Trust You'

On April 12, Future and Metro Boomin released their second collaborative album, "We Still Don't Trust You." While neither rapper directly dissed Drake, they enlisted The Weeknd and A$AP Rocky to do their bidding. Ross and Cole also appear on the album but don't diss Drake.

In the track "All To Myself," The Weeknd references declining to sign with Drake's OVO label, which has led to a frostiness between the two Canadian stars.

"They could never diss my brothers, baby / When they got leaks in they operation / I thank God that I never signed my life away / And we never do the big talk / They shooters makin TikToks / Got us laughin in the Lambo," The Weeknd rapped.

On the track "Show of Hands," Rocky references the rumor that he slept with Sophie Brussaux, the mother of Drake's child Adonis, before the "God's Plan" rapper.

"N****s in they feelings over women, what, you hurt or something? / I smash before you birthed, son, Flacko hit it first, son," Rocky rapped.

Rocky and Drake were also friends until the "Fuckin' Problems" rapper began to date Rihanna, who had an on-again-off-again relationship with Drake.

On the "For All the Dogs" track "Fear of Heights," Drake disses both stars, saying sex with Rihanna was "average" and that Rocky is now stuck with her since they have children together.

A diss track from Drake appeared online – but fans first thought it was AI-generated

On April 13, after the release of "We Still Don't Trust You," a diss track surfaced on social media that appeared to have been recorded by Drake.

At first, some fans were convinced that the song "Push Ups" was another fake AI Drake track.

Drake appeared to allude to the track being genuine when he shared an Instagram story post of a scene from "Kill Bill," where multiple enemies with swords surround Uma Thurman's character, The Bride.

Although Drake spends most of the four-minute track dissing Lamar, there are a few shots fired at The Weeknd, Ross, Cole, Future, and Metro Boomin.

Drake mocked Lamar's latest album, "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers," his appearances on Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift's pop songs, and suggested that Lamar's former label, Top Dawg Entertainment, took 50% of profits from the "Humble" rapper's songs.

"How the fuck you big steppin with a size 7 mens on? / Your last one bricked, you really not on shit," Drake rapped. "Maroon 5 need a verse, you better make it witty / Then we need a verse for the Swifties / Top say drop, you better drop and give him 50."

Drake also rapped that SZA, Travis Scott, and 21 Savage were bigger names in the hip-hop world than Lamar.

Later in the track, Drake references Cole's diss track and apology.

"And that fuckin' song y'all got is not starting beef with us / This shit brewin' in a pot, now I'm heating up / I don't care what Cole think, that Dot shit was weak as fuck," Drake rapped.

Later in the track, Drake raps that he gave Future his first No. 1 hit, referring to Drake's 2021 song "Way 2 Sexy," which he features on. Drake also says The Weeknd wastes his money, and Metro Boomin should "shut your ho ass up and make some drums, n****."

Taking aim at Ross, he says the 48-year-old rapper is too old to join the rap beef and owes his chart success to him. Drake also appears to reference Ross' friendship with Diddy, who was accused of sexual misconduct by four people in the last year.

"Spend that lil' check you got and stay up out my business / Worry 'bout whatever goin' on with you and…," Drake says, trailing off at the end.

Rocky was the only one spared from the track.

Ross quickly recorded and released a response, "Champagne Moments," where he calls Drake a "white boy," claims the rapper got a nose job, and stole his flow from Lil Wayne. Ross also repeats the ghostwriter allegations, and has continued to make fun of Drake's nose on social media.

On April 14, Drake shared a text message with his mother in which she asked about the nose job rumor. Drake responded in the message that Ross is just "angry and racist" and he'll "handle it," which may mean their personal feud will continue.

Drake officially released "Push Ups" and another track aimed at Lamar

On April 19, a week after the leak, Drake officially released "Push Ups" alongside a new diss track directed at Lamar called "Taylor Made Freestyle."

In the latter track, Drake taunts Lamar to respond to "Push Ups," mocks Lamar's complex rap verses, and says the rapper is a puppet of the industry and Swift.

For the track, Drake used AI to generate the voices of the late Tupac Shakur, widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time, and Snoop Dogg, making it sound like they rapped the first two verses.

Drake's use of Tupac may be a reference to Lamar's track "Mortal Man," from his 2015 album "To Pimp a Butterfly." At the end of the track, Lamar samples a 1994 Tupac interview to simulate a conversation between the two rappers.

Some fans criticized the use of AI in "Taylor Made Freestyle" particularly as Tupac was unable to consent.

Snoop responded to the song on April 20 in a jokey Instagram video where he reacts to people messaging him about Drake using his voice.

"They did what? When? How? Are you sure?" he says. "I'm going back to bed. Good night."

On April 24, Billboard reported that Tupac's estate had sent a cease-and-desist letter to Drake for using his voice.

"The Estate is deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac's voice and personality," the estate's lawyer Howard King said. "Not only is the record a flagrant violation of Tupac's publicity and the estate's legal rights, it is also a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time. The Estate would never have given its approval for this use."

Two days later, Drake removed the song from social media and streaming platforms, though copies of the song are still available online.

Lamar spelled out the things he hates about Drake in the song "Euphoria"

On April 30, Lamar released "Euphoria," a damning six-minute response to Drake.

In the track, Lamar calls Drake a "scam artist," "a master manipulator and habitual liar," mocks the Canadian rapper for imitating Black American culture, and claims that the "One Dance" artist has 20 ghostwriters. Lamar also says he is a better father than Drake.

Halfway through the track, Lamar raps: "I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress / I hate the way that you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it's gon' be direct / We hate the bitches you fuck, 'cause they confuse themself with real women."

'Fans also believe the lyrics "have you ever paid five hundred thou' like to an open case?" refer to Drake paying 532,000 New Zealand dollars in 2019 to a woman who accused him of sexual assault. Drake denied the claim at the time.

Later in the track, Lamar hits out at Drake's use of AI in "Taylor Made Freestyle."

"I'd rather do that than let a Canadian n**** make Pac turn in his grave," Lamar raps, later adding. "Am I battlin' ghost or AI?"

Lamar also implies that Drake sent a cease-and-desist letter to get "Like That," the song that reignited the beef, removed.

"Try cease and desist on the 'Like That' record? / Ho, what? You ain't like that record?" Lamar raps on the track.

In response to the song, Drake continued to taunt Lamar by posting a clip from "10 Things I Hate About You" on his Instagram story.

Lamar warned Drake about enemies in his own entourage in his latest track, "6:16 in LA"

"6:16 in LA," released May 3, is a shorter track than "Euphoria" and only features one verse.

Lamar begins the verse rapping about his success before turning his attention to Drake. Instead of insulting Drake, Lamar claims that the "Push Ups" rapper's circle has been feeding him lies, leaking information about him, and hoping for his downfall.

"Have you ever thought that OVO was workin' for me? / Fake bully, I hate bullies, you must be a terrible person / Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it," Lamar raps.

Later, he continues: "A hunnid n***** that you got on salary, and twenty of 'em want you as a casualty / And one of them is actually, next to you / And two of them is practically tied to your lifestyle, just don't got the audacity to tell you."

Fans believe Lamar's lyric, "It was fun until you start to put money in the streets / Then lost money, 'cause they came back with no receipts," implies that Drake tried to pay for dirt on the "DNA" rapper.

Later in the track, Lamar also calls out Drake for "playin' dirty" in his feuds by enlisting the help of Twitter bots and celebrities like Zack Bia to stir public opinion against his enemies.

"But your reality can't hide behind Wi-Fi / Your lil' memes is losing steam, they figured you out," Lamar added.

The diss track's layers go beyond the lyrics, as fans have been analyzing the cover art, the track's title, and even the producers. "6:16" was Tupac's birthday, but it is also Father's Day, which relates to Lamar's taunts about Drake's parenting skills. "6:16 in LA" also parodies Drake's song titles, which often feature location names and timestamps.

The song is co-produced by Jack Antonoff, Swift's longtime producer and friend, which is likely aimed at Drake's Taylor Swift disses.

Meanwhile, the cover art features a black leather glove with a Maybach logo on it. The black leather glove could refer to Drake's 2020 song "Toosie Slide," where the rapper compares himself to Michael Jackson in the line "Black leather glove, no sequins."

Meanwhile, the logo could refer to Rick Ross' music label, Maybach Music Group.

Drake ramped things up in "Family Matters," which he dropped alongside a music video

On May 3, Drake released "Family Matters," a seven-and-a-half-minute response to Lamar's back-to-back diss tracks, which appears to respond to some of "Euphoria," firstly Lamar's decision to question Drake's quality as a father.

"You mentioned my seed, now deal with his dad/I gotta go bad, I gotta go bad," Drake rapped in the first few lines of the track.

Later, he takes shots at Lamar's son, Enoch: "Why you never hold your son and tell him say cheese / We could have left the kids out of this don't blame me."

"I heard that one of them little kids might be Dave Free," Drake also raps, suggesting that one of Lamar's two children he shares with his longtime partner was fathered by one of Lamar's creative partners.

Drake ramps things up toward the song's end when he makes the unfounded claim that Lamar has domestically abused a partner. "They hired a crisis management team/To clean up the fact that you beat on your queen," he raps, "The picture you painted ain't what it seems."

On the track, Drake also addresses the cease-and-desist he was sent over "Taylor Made Freestyle," rapping that Lamar "begged" the family of Shakur to take legal action and have the song taken down.

At the song's close, he brings it back to their respective children and takes one final swipe at his opponent, rapping: "Our sons should go play at the park / Two light-skinned kids, that shit would be cute / Unless you don't want to be seen with anyone that isn't Blacker than you."

Drake also dropped a music video alongside the song, which shows a red minivan, similar to that on the cover of Lamar's "good kid, m.A.A.d city" being driven across the border to Canada and destroyed. Later in the video, Drake is shown having dinner at the same Chinese restaurant Lamar rapped about in "Euphoria."

Minutes later, Lamar responded, directly addressing Drake's son and mom on "Meet the Grahams"

Lamar's "Meet the Grahams" arrived minutes after Drake's "Family Matters" dropped and saw the rapper directly address each member of Drake's family.

"Dear Adonis, I'm sorry that that man is your father, let me be honest / It takes a man to be a man, your dad is not responsive," he begins the track. "I look at him and wish your grandpa woulda wore a condom / I'm sorry that you gotta grow up and then stand behind him."

In the second verse, Lamar turns his attention to Drake's mom and dad, rapping that the pair "gave birth to a master manipulator."

"You raised a horrible fuckin' person, the nerve of you, Dennis," the track continues. "Sandra, sit down, what I'm about to say is heavy, now listen/ Mm-mm, your son's a sick man with sick thoughts."

Another verse, addressed to a "baby girl," implies that Drake has fathered a second child beyond his son that he has kept secret, while the final verse brings things back to Drake himself, where Lamar justifies taking such personal shots at his rival.

"Dear Aubrey, I know you probably thinkin' I wanted to crash your party/ But truthfully, I don't have a hatin' bone in my body/ This supposed to be a good exhibition within the game/ But you fucked up the moment you called out my family's name."

Lamar refuses to let Drake breathe and releases yet another track, "Not Like Us"

In "Not Like Us," Lamar appears to directly respond to Drake's "Family Matters" diss, referencing the track's title in the song lyrics.

"The family matter, and the truth of the matter/It was God's plan to show you're the liar," Lamar raps, also giving a nod to Drake's 2018 track "God's Plan."

The art for the song is an aerial view of Drake's mansion near Toronto, Variety reported. The image also has pins on the mansion, resembling those used on sex offender maps, leading fans to believe Lamar is suggesting Drake's house is full of sexual predators.

In the first half of the track, Kenny claims that Oakland — Tupac's home city — would take issue with Drake's previous use of Pac's voice in "Taylor Made Freestyle." Lamar then says he believes a concert in Oakland would be Drake's "last stop."

Lamar also says Drake is a "colonizer" and that he got his "street cred" with the help of other rappers, including Future, Lil Baby, 21 Savage, Young Thug, Quavo, and 2Chainz.

Lamar also made the unsubstantiated claim that Drake and his entourage are pedophiles.

"Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles," Lamar rapped, referring to Drake's 2021 album. "To any bitch that talk to him and they in love / Just make sure you hide your lil' sister from him."

After this track, many hip-hop fans declared Lamar the winner of the rap beef since he released a "club banger"-style song, which is typically Drake's specialty. Videos on social media have been shared of the track being played at clubs and sports stadiums over the weekend after its release.

Drake responds to Lamar's accusations in "The Heart Part 6"

On May 5, Drake released a response to "Not Like Us" and "Meet the Grahams" in the form "The Heart Part 6." The title is a reference to Lamar's "The Heart" song series.

The song denies many of Lamar's claims. Drake raps that the people feeding Lamar information about him are "all clowns" and says that Lamar was purposefully given false information about him secretly fathering an 11-year-old daughter.

In "Meet the Grahams" Lamar sings about a "baby girl" that he says Drake abandons.

"We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information / A daughter that's 11 years old, I bet he takes it / I thought about giving a fake name and a destination / but you so thirsty you not concerned with investigation," Drake raps in his response.

Later in the verse, Drake denied the pedophile claims.

"Only fuckin' with Whitneys, not Millie Bobby Browns, I'd never look twice at no teenager," he rapped, referring to the rumor that Drake's friendship with "Stranger Things" star Millie Bobby Brown when she was a child was inappropriate.

He rapped later: "If I was fucking young girls, I promise I'd have been arrested / I'm way too famous for this shit you just suggested."

On June 5, Billboard reported that Drake had deleted the Instagram post promoting the song.

Metro Boomin' re-enters the feud

Last we heard of Metro Boomin, Drake told him to "shut your ho ass up and make some drums," and that's just what he did.

On May 5, Metro Boomin posted a track on X called "BBL Drizzy BPM 150" and told his fans that the rapper who has the "best verse over this gets a free beat."

The track samples an AI-generated parody song of the same name by comedian King Willonius, and the title refers to Ross' nickname for Drake because of the "Hotline Bling" rapper's alleged cosmetic surgeries.

Hip-hop fans from around the world quickly jumped into the competition, and soon disses in multiple different languages were shared on the internet.

However, a day later, social media users shared screenshots of old X posts that they claimed were by Metro Boomin, in which the rapper appeared to joke about underage girls. Despite the posts not being verified, fans turned against the rapper, and "#MetroGroomin" started trending.

Representatives for Metro Boomin did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

A security guard outside Drake's mansion is injured, and three people try to break into the home

In the week following the release of "Not Like Us," a shooting took place outside Drake's mansion, and there were also reports of people trying to break into the property.

On May 7, multiple outlets reported that there was a drive-by shooting outside Drake's mansion in Toronto.

Canadian publication CBC reported, citing Toronto police inspector Paul Krawczyk, that a security guard was shot and seriously injured outside Drake's mansion at Park Lane Circle. Krawczyk told CBC that the incident occurred shortly after 2 a.m. ET and the attack involved a vehicle but did not say it was a drive-by shooting.

CBC said, citing a police source, that the security guard was taken to the hospital for surgery after he suffered a gunshot wound to the upper chest.

On May 8, CNN reported a person tried to enter Drake's mansion a day after the shooting.

Ashley Visser, a media relations officer for the Toronto Police Department, told CNN in a statement that officers apprehended the person under Ontario's Mental Health Act. The act allows officers to take a person they believe to be suffering from a mental disorder into custody to give them medical assistance.

TMZ reported on May 9, citing the Toronto Police Service, that a second person tried to enter Drake's property around 3:30 p.m. ET. In their report, TMZ said the person was taken to the hospital after they got into an altercation with security before cops arrived.

On May 11, TMZ reported that a third person tried to break into the home but was stopped by Drake's security. Toronto Police Service told TMZ that the man was later escorted off the property by the police.

Neither of these incidents was linked to the rap beef by officers, but tensions are high since they all occurred after the release of "Not Like Us."

Amid the incidents, Drake complained on his Instagram Story about the media helicopters surrounding his home.

On May 11, Drake wrote in a post addressing Canadian news organization CP24, "Can we discuss the chopper flight times over the house 'cause I won't lie, I'm trying to sleep. Anytime after 3 pm works great for me," he wrote.

Drake appears to have stepped down from the beef, and Lamar's label says the "battle is over"

Drake seemed to suggest he was bowing out of the feud with Lamar in "The Heart Part 6" when he said: "You could drop a hundred more records, I'll see you later / Yeah, maybe when you meet your maker / I don't wanna fight with a woman beater, it feeds your nature."

While some fans doubted this, it seems he was serious. On May 11, Drake posted an illustration of a samurai standing up against an army on his Instagram Story and captioned the post, "Good times. Summer vibes up next," which seemed to suggest he wouldn't release any more diss tracks.

That day, Anthony Tiffith posted on X: "This battle is over. A win for the culture, while keeping it all on wax. Especially when these publications try to make it something else. We proved them wrong. That's a victory within itself. On another note, it's time to wrap up this TDE 20yr anniversary compilation."

Lamar, Rick Ross, and Metro Boomin have not commented on whether they will also back down from the beef.

Lamar performs "Not Like Us" five times at his Juneteenth concert

On June 19, Lamar hosted a one-off concert to celebrate Juneteenth called "The Pop Out: Ken & Friends," which was live-streamed on Amazon Prime Video and Twitch.

The event featured up-and-coming West Coast rappers and major Californian stars including Dr. Dre, Jay Rock and Tyler The Creator. Lamar closed the night with his own set, opening with "Euphoria."

During the performance, Lamar added a new line, "Give me Tupac's ring back and I might give you a little respect," referring to reports that Drake had bought a ring that belonged to Tupac Shakur.

Later in the set, Lamar performed "6:16" and "Like That." Lamar ended the night performing "Not Like Us" five times in a row, beginning with an intro by Dr. Dre who joined Lamar onstage.

During the third "Not Like Us" encore, West Coast performers, athletes, and gang members also joined Lamar onstage to dance to the song. Lamar then stopped the performance to get a group photo.

Lamar then told the audience the real focus of the concert was to bring West Coast performers and gang-members together and celebrate their loved ones who had been killed.

"For all of us to be on this stage together, unity, from East side mother-fucking LA, Crips, Bloods, Pirus, this shit is special, man. We put this shit together just for ya'll," Lamar said, referring to rival gang members onstage.

"Everybody got fallen sons but we're right here, right now celebrating all of them, this shit is special," he added.

After his speech, Lamar performed "Not Like Us" one more time.

During the rap beef, Drake has continually mocked the West Coast rap community, which Lamar hails from, and said the community does not support Lamar.

Lamar seemed to prove with the Juneteenth concert that the West Coast and the hip-hop community has his back.

Fans have dubbed the concert Lamar's "victory lap," saying he has won the rap beef. Some fans described the event as Lamar getting the West Coast to dance on Drake's grave.

Lamar releases a music video for "Not Like Us."

Exactly two months after releasing "Not Like Us," Lamar released a music video for the diss track on YouTube.

It stars with Lamar teasing an unreleased song before going into the "Not Like Us" track.

The music video appears to take numerous digs at his rival, including a recurring image of an owl, which is the logo of Drake's label.

The first time an owl appears, it is in the shape of a pinata, which Lamar breaks with a stick.

A disclaimer at the bottom of the screen reads, "No OVhoes were harmed in making this video."

Later in the video, Lamar puts an owl in the cage. Both scenes seem to suggest Lamar is declaring that he has defeated Drake.

Lamar's longtime partner Whitney Alford, their two children, and multiple other West Coast rappers, athletes, and dancers appear in the video, which was shot in Compton, California.

In November, Lamar surprised fans by dropping the album 'GNX,' which included several references to his feud with Drake

After months of silence, Lamar quietly released the 12-track album on Friday, November 22.

The rapper appeared to reference his high-profile beef with Drake in the album's opening track, "wacced out murals."

He raps: "Snoop posted 'Taylor Made,' I prayed it was the edibles/ I couldn't believe it, it was only right for me to let it go."

The lyrics reference how fellow rapper Snoop Dogg shared one of Drake's diss tracks, "Taylor Made Freestyle," to Instagram earlier this year (Snoop Dogg has said he would not be taking sides in the feud.)

Elsewhere on the album, there is a track named "heart pt. 6," reclaiming the song name from Drake, who previously released his own song titled "The Heart Part 6" as a taunt about Lamar's series of numbered "heart" tracks.

The surprise album has garnered positive initial reviews from critics, rounding off a transformative year for Lamar.