Judge Sends Drake Stake.us Lawsuit to Arbitration
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema issued a 20-page opinion Thursday sending plaintiffs' claims against Stake.us to binding arbitration and halting related claims against Drake, Ross, and Australian co-defendant George Nguyen until that process resolves.
- Drake (Aubrey Drake Graham), Ross, and Nguyen had not yet been served with the lawsuit at the time of the ruling, according to the opinion.
- Plaintiffs allege Drake conspired to "prey upon consumers" and expose them to gambling-addiction risks through paid promotion of Stake.us, including live-streamed gambling sessions and giveaways.
- A separate California lawsuit filed a month earlier — in which Drake is not a defendant — alleges Spotify ignored "billions of fraudulent streams" of Drake's music; rapper RBX filed an amended complaint July 13 claiming the alleged fraud diverted at least $600 million in royalties from other artists over nearly four years through 2025.
- Spotify is due to respond to the amended complaint by Aug. 11; a judge dismissed an earlier version in June, finding the plaintiff failed to show Spotify owed him a duty or that he was substantially harmed.
- Both the Virginia and a similar October-filed Missouri class action target Stake.us's dual-currency system that bundles non-redeemable "gold coins" with redeemable "Stake Cash" tokens — a model California Gov. Gavin Newsom moved against with legislation signed last year.
Why it matters: Plaintiffs suing over gambling harm triggered Stake.us's binding arbitration clause simply by using the platform, sidelining their court claims against Drake, Ross, and Nguyen before any of them were even served. The parallel Spotify suit — targeting the streaming-fraud allegation without that arbitration obstacle — remains live, carrying a $600 million royalty-diversion claim and an Aug. 11 response deadline.
