For months, a lawyer of one of the co-defendants accused of murdering XXXTENTACION has attempted to rope Drake into the case. It began a few months ago when the prosecutors and defense attorneys submitted a potential witness list. The defense attorney for Dedrick Williams, Mauricio Padilla, listed a number of celebrities with known relationships and feuds with XXXTENTACION, including Quavo, Offset, Joe Budden, and Drake. Still, Broward County Judge Michael Usan didn’t initially think Drake’s presence was necessary in this case.
The prosecutors never suggested Drake had involvement in X’s death, though Padilla’s frequently pushed the theory that the Her Loss rapper was never investigated for the crime. “Before X died, he said, ‘If anybody kills me, it’s Drake.’ Do you think sitting here years later, any detective has ever asked Drake or anybody like that? No,” Padilla said during opening statements, per Complex. “This is one of the biggest celebrities in the world. Excluding an order from this court, we all know that I will never be able to take his deposition.”
Judge Grants Motion To Depose Drake
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Per Rolling Stone, a judge granted Padilla’s petition for an “order to show cause.” This means Drake will now have to sit down for a deposition, scheduled for Feb. 24th, which will take place through Zoom, per Billboard. “If deponent Aubrey Drake Graham does not appear to deposition he must appear before this court on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023 at 10 a.m. EST at so [sic] the court can determine why he should not be held in contempt,” the motion reads.
Padilla cited the post from X where he alleged that Drake was trying to kill him. However, X later recanted his statement, claiming he was hacked. Still, Padilla referenced how their beef escalated throughout X’s career, including commentary from Akademiks, who reportedly warned X that “although he did not believe that Graham was a violent person, Onfroy could be pushing him to retaliate.” Furthermore, the filing includes quotes from X’s mom, who said she asked the rapper’s relatives to accompany him to purchase a motorcycle due to his “ongoing battle with Drake and Migos.”
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