D4vd was dropped by Interscope Records amidst the Celeste Rivas murder case. As per Rolling Stone, the singer was dropped from Interscope Records last year, soon after the police started suspecting the rapper, following the discovery of Rivas’s body in a Tesla registered to the rapper.
As per the publication’s article on the matter, the agreement between D4vd and Interscope, which is a label owned by Universal Music Group, was a licensing agreement and thus Universal Music Group has no ownership or copyright over the rapper’s music.
Streaming platforms such as Apple Music and Amazon Music are now crediting the rapper’s music under D4VD ENT., LLC. UMG, the parent company of Interscope Records, is also helping artists signed with them to remove their collaborations with the rapper. Among those who have removed their collaborations with the rapper from streaming sites are Kali Uchis, Laufey, and Holly Humberstone, and more.
For those unaware, the rapper had signed on to Darkroom Records under Interscope Records back in 2022, following which he released two EPs, Petals to Thorns and The Lost Petals, in 2023, and his debut studio album, Withered, in 2025.
Soon after the release of his debut album, the Rivas was found in September 2025. Alongside being dropped by Interscope Records, the rapper was also dropped from a Sony Music Publishing deal, as well as by The·Team recently, as per Billboard. Previously, the rapper was dropped by Crocs and Hollister from their marketing campaigns. Also, the rapper’s collaborative song with Laufey, This is How It Feels, was dropped by figure skater Alysa Liu.
Streaming platforms face pressure to remove D4vd’s music
There is now pressure on streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music to remove D4vd’s music. A Change.org petition by the music advocacy group Industry Blackout is calling on streaming platforms to remove the rapper’s music from their catalog.
The petition, which has already garnered 821 verified signatures, reads:
“As advocates against violence and abuse in the music industry, we at Industry Blackout are calling on music streaming platforms and industry stakeholders to remove all music by the artist D4VD from their catalogs.”
The petition goes on:
“D4VD, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, has been charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 years old, and mutilation of human remains in connection with the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.”
The petition goes on to say that the violence against Celeste Rivas Hernandez is part of a larger pattern of violence against women by men throughout the globe and then says that Rivas deserved protection from the industry that gave the rapper his label deal and visibility.
The petition then adds that the music industry has a responsibility and that continuing to stream and profit from the rapper’s catalog is not a neutral choice:
The music industry has a responsibility that goes beyond commerce. When an artist has been charged with the sexual abuse and murder of a minor, a child who was drawn into his orbit through his music and public persona, continuing to stream, promote, and profit from his catalog is a choice. It is not a neutral one.”
The petition further adds that it is asking platforms to exercise their ability to act, based on their terms of service and value statements. It also states that they are asking the rapper’s music to be removed until the charges against him are formally addressed in court:
“Music streaming platforms have terms of service. They have value statements. They have the ability to act. We are calling on them to exercise that ability now, by removing D4VD’s music from all streaming platforms while these charges are adjudicated.”
D4vd was charged with first-degree murder of Celeste Rivas on April 20, 2026. The rapper’s legal team filed a not guilty plea regarding the charges. He is being represented by a legal team consisting of lair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter.
Edited by Amey Mirashi