Drake will reportedly have to testify in the ongoing murder trial of XXXTENTACION, who was fatally shot in 2018. According to TMZ, the presiding judge has also issued an ultimatum if Drake fails to show up for his deposition. Defense attorney Mauricio Padilla, who’s representing suspect Dedrick Williams, convinced the judge to explore Drake’s 2017 beef with the late rapper.
Drake was originally scheduled to be deposed on January 27 but failed to appear. Now, he must sit for the deposition on February 24 via Zoom. If he skips that date, he’ll have to appear in court on February 27 or face contempt charges.
XXXTENTACION and Drake started beefing over the former’s claim the OVO boss bit his style. Four months before his murder, X posted an Instagram Story that read: “IF ANYONE TRIES TO KILL ME IT WAS @champagnepapi.” X ultimately deleted the post and claimed he was hacked. Still, the conspiracy theories ran wild. Padilla is clearly going to extreme lengths to make the connection.
Last month, the judge ruled Drake wouldn’t be required to testify in during the trial but evidently change his mind. Padilla claimed Drake and people associated with him—including Akademiks—had issues with X. As he stated in December 2022, “The testimony of [Drake] is material to the case, and it is necessary to take the deposition of [Drake] to prevent the failure of justice.”
The XXXTENTACION murder trial began earlier this week. Co-defendants Michael Boatwright and Trayvon Newsome both face life sentences along with Williams.