Halle Berry is calling out Drake for using a 2012 photo of her without her permission to promote his new single, “Slime You Out.”
The “Hotline Bling” rapper took to Instagram earlier this week and used a photo of Berry getting slimed at the 2012 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California. Drake zoomed in on the photo, spliced a “Parental advisory” warning on the lower, right corner and captioned it with two emojis.
The track, featuring SZA, is featured in Drake’s latest album, For All the Dogs, which was supposed to drop Friday. Drake has since pushed the release to Sept. 22. After Drake’s post on Instagram (SZA also posted the same cover on her IG), Berry took to her own IG account and posted a cryptic message.
“Sometimes you have to be the bigger guy … Even if you’re a woman!” her message read.
Berry later clarified after a fan in the comments section asked the Monster’s Ball star her “thoughts of Drake using that picture of you for his single?”
Berry responded, “Didn’t get my permission. That’s not cool. I thought better of him!” She added, “Hence my post today. When people you admire disappoint you you have to be the bigger person and move on!”
Drake doesn’t appear affected by Berry’s reaction, as the post remains on his Instagram account. Since revealing that her cryptic post was directed at the rapper, Berry’s comment section has been flooded by Drake stans calling her a crybaby and defending him by things like, “U could find the pic on Google. I don’t see the problem.”
Berry’s fans quickly rushed to her defense. One fan shot back, “A lot of these responses show too many children are being raised by a phone and the internet smh, more technology seems to equal more stupidity and less humanity.”
It’s not the first time Drake has found himself in hot water to promote his work. Just last year, the 36-year-old rapper and 21 Savage printed fake Vogue covers to promote their album, Her Loss.
The fashion magazine’s publisher, Condé Nast, soon got wind of the stunt and filed a lawsuit in November against the rappers claiming the “widespread promotional campaign” for their album is “built entirely” on the use of Vogue’s trademarks.
Condé Nast sued the rappers for $4 million in damages. Just months later, in February, Drake and 21 Savage settled the lawsuit with Vogue‘s publisher. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
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