Yahoo Lifestyle Writer of Conan O’Brien’s 2025 Oscars Monologue Defends Kendrick Lamar and Drake Joke
"The idea that it’s being taken as a real call-out or taking sides in any way in the beef is absurd," comedy writer Skyler Higley said in defense of O'Brien's monologue joke
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Kenrick Lamar; Conan O'Brien; DrakeConan O'Brien's joke writer is standing by that Kendrick Lamar and Drake joke.
During the 2025 Oscars, host O'Brien, 61, made a direct reference to the ongoing feud between rappers Drake, 38, and Lamar, 37, and a line in the latter’s diss track "Not Like Us," which won five Grammys at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
"We're halfway through the show, which means it's time for Kendrick Lamar to come out and call Drake a pedophile," O'Brien said during his monologue during the Sunday, March 2 telecast and in front of the live audience. "Don't worry, I'm lawyered up," he added, referencing Drake's lawsuits against Universal Music Group.
Shortly after O’Brien made the quip, the comedian’s joke writer Skyler Higley celebrated the joke’s success on X.
“wrote the Kendrick Lamar joke and bet our executive producer $50 that it would kill. just made $50,” he wrote.
Higley also joked later in the evening, “someone put me in contact with Kendrick thanks.”
Higley serves as a staff writer for After Midnight and formerly wrote for O’Brien’s TBS talk show, Conan.
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Conan O'Brien at the 97th Oscars held at the Dolby Theatre on March 2, 2025 in Hollywood, California."The idea that it’s being taken as a real call-out or taking sides in any way in the beef is absurd," Higley told TMZ on Monday, March 3.
He added that the joke was not O'Brien taking sides, but simply referencing the feud’s cultural relevance over the past year, including Lamar’s February 2025 Super Bowl halftime performance.
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Higley was referring to the Sunday, Feb. 9, Halftime Show at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans when Lamar performed "Not Like Us.”
During the song, Lamar calls Drake a pedophile and a "colonizer,” and raps the notorious lyric, "Tryna strike a chord and it's probably A minor." Lamar altered one particularly scathing lyric, and omitted the last word from the line "Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles", which refers to Drake's 2021 album Certified Lover Boy.
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Kendrick Lamar performs in the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome on February 9, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.The song was originally released in May 2024. In response, Drake filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group, his own record label since 2009, for releasing and promoting the track.
On Nov. 25, 2024, Drake filed a legal petition against IHeartMedia and Universal Music Group and alleged the company "launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves" with Lamar's track, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. UMG — who represents both Lamar and Drake — denied the allegations in a statement to PEOPLE.
The Associated Press reported on Feb. 28 that Drake reached a settlement with IHeartMedia over "Not Like Us." According to court documents obtained by the AP, the rapper's legal team confirmed, "The parties were able to reach a settlement satisfactory to both sides."
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