Whilst it’s not been disclosed how much the rappers have agreed to pay to settle the case, Vogue’s publisher, Condé Nast, had sought at least $4m (£3.5m) in damages, or triple the defendants’ profits from their album and “counterfeit” magazine, when it first sued in November.
The pair’s use of the fake Vogue cover had been shared on 30 October in a since-deleted Instagram post to a combined 135 million Instagram followers, in which Drake thanked the magazine’s longtime editor-in-chief Anna Wintour “for the love and support on this historic moment” and wrote: “Me and my brother on newsstands tomorrow!!”
However, it’s safe to say Vogue weren’t best pleased with the use of their highly prized front page, with lawyers for the magazine writing in a complaint filed at Manhattan federal court at the time that “All of this is false. And none of it has been authorised by Conde Nast.”
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris.
News of the latest settlement between Vogue and the pair was first revealed by Reuters, who explained that an internal memo at the publishing company from general counsel Will Bowes would “bolster our ongoing creative output, including Vogue editorial”.
The memo also reportedly said that a permanent injunction was also included in the settlement, preventing the pair from the commercial use of Vogue’s trademarks again.
The Vogue cover wasn’t the only false piece of Her Loss promo. They also used deepfake to create a fake interview with legendary SiriusXM host Howard Stern, carried out a mock NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and a fake SNL skit, introduced by actor Michael B. Jordan, and performed ‘Privileged Rappers’ on a mock COLORS show.
Even though the pair will likely have agreed a significant sum with Vogue, it’ll be set against the equally hearty sum that Her Loss has raked in. Not only did the album surpass a billion streams in less than two months since release, but just last week it was revealed to have sold over one million units.
