{"id":23893,"date":"2026-08-01T04:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T23:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=23893"},"modified":"2026-08-01T04:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T23:10:11","slug":"drake-fraudulent-streams-case-on-ice-as-judge-orders-arbitration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=23893","title":{"rendered":"Drake \u2018Fraudulent Streams\u2019 Case on Ice as Judge Orders Arbitration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tA federal judge has paused <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/drake-adin-ross-online-casino-stake-lawsuit-1235493062\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/drake-adin-ross-online-casino-stake-lawsuit-1235493062\/\">a lawsuit <\/a>accusing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/drake\/\" id=\"auto-tag_drake\" data-tag=\"drake\">Drake<\/a> and streamer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/adin-ross\/\" id=\"auto-tag_adin-ross\" data-tag=\"adin-ross\">Adin Ross<\/a> of using the online casino platform Stake.us to bankroll a \u201cbot army\u201d that allegedly artificially inflated streams of Drake\u2019s music.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIn a 20-page opinion obtained by <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema ruled Thursday that the plaintiffs agreed to binding arbitration with Stake when they accessed the platform to play casino-style games. The agreement requires them to pursue their claims against Stake before a private arbitrator rather than in court, the judge said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBrinkema essentially halted the plaintiffs\u2019 related claims against Drake, Ross, and Australian co-defendant George Nguyen until the arbitration is resolved. She noted in her opinion that the plaintiffs had not yet served any of the three men with the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAttempts to reach representatives for Drake, whose legal name is Aubrey Drake Graham, and Ross were not immediately successful on Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe lawsuit was first filed last December. It followed a month after <a data-id=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/lawsuit-spotify-drake-streams-1235457737\/\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/lawsuit-spotify-drake-streams-1235457737\/\">a different complaint <\/a>filed in federal court in California alleged that Spotify \u201cturned a blind eye\u201d to \u201cbillions of fraudulent streams\u201d of Drake\u2019s music. That lawsuit, in which Graham is not a defendant, is still pending. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tA judge dismissed an earlier version of the Spotify complaint in June, saying the plaintiff failed to show Spotify had a duty to protect him and failed to show how he was substantially harmed. The plaintiff, the rapper RBX, born Eric Dwayne Collins, filed a first amended complaint on July 13, claiming the alleged fraud diverted at least $600 million in royalties from other artists over a nearly four-year period through 2025. He also added that streamshare plays a significant role in an artist\u2019s career, saying it\u2019s \u201ccritical that Spotify\u2019s calculations are accurate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tSpotify is due to respond to the amended complaint by Aug. 11.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIn the now-halted case naming Graham as a defendant in federal court in Virginia, the plaintiffs allege the singer engaged in a conspiracy to \u201cprey upon consumers,\u201d unlawfully expose them to the \u201csubstantial risks of gambling addiction,\u201d and jeopardize their financial well-being. The plaintiffs claim they were \u201cinfluenced to participate\u201d in Stake\u2019s \u201cpredatorial gambling environment\u201d after viewing Drake\u2019s paid promotion of the site, including live-streamed gambling sessions and giveaways. <\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe lawsuit is not the first to target Graham, 39, and Ross, 25, over their ties to Stake. Last October, a Missouri man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/drake-online-casino-sued-lawsuit-1235455374\/\">filed a similar proposed class action<\/a> against the men and Stake\u2019s parent company, Sweepsteaks Limited.<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe Missouri and Virginia-based lawsuits both allege Stake.us uses an unlawful, dual-currency system that bundles virtual, purportedly non-redeemable \u201cgold coins\u201d with a second type of token, called \u201cStake Cash,\u201d that can be cashed out for real money. This type of dual-currency model is considered a loophole by critics and has faced backlash from legislators. California Gov. Gavin Newsom\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/casinobeats.com\/2025\/10\/13\/california-sweepstakes-casino-ban-ab-831\/\">signed a bill<\/a>\u00a0last year to help address the problem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tLawyers for Stake did not respond to an email seeking comment sent Friday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal judge has paused a lawsuit accusing Drake and streamer Adin Ross of using the online casino platform Stake.us to bankroll a \u201cbot army\u201d that allegedly artificially inflated streams of Drake\u2019s music. In a 20-page opinion obtained by Rolling Stone, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema ruled Thursday that the plaintiffs agreed to binding&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/drake-streams.jpg?crop=0px%2C40px%2C1800px%2C1015px&resize=1600%2C900","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}