Kesha Isn't Allowed To Escape Her Contract With Dr. Luke For about two years now, I’ve been wondering why Kesha Rose Sebert (known as Ke$ha) has stopped making music. I kept thinking that perhaps she was going through a dry-spell, or that she might have taken a break to ‘find herself,’ or even that she had quietly retired from the industry. Of course, I was absolutely horrified to learn that Ke$ha has actually been struggling to break off her contract with her producer and alleged rapist, Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald (known as Dr. Luke). While the lawsuit, filed in October 2014, contains several shocking accusations against Dr. Luke, the most shocking and heart-wrenching is that of sexual violence. Ke$ha claims that shortly after her 18th birthday, Dr. Luke drugged and raped her. Over the course of the 10 years leading up to her filing, Ke$ha insists that Dr. Luke had “sexually, physically, verbally, and emotionally abused [her] to the point where [she] nearly lost her life," in an attempt to "maintain complete control over her life and career." It also claims that "[Ke$ha] wholly believed that Dr. Luke had the power and money to carry out his threats [and she] therefore never dared talk about, let alone report, what Dr. Luke had done to her." Rolling Stone does note that in 2011, Ke$ha had testified in a deposition denying any advances by Dr.Luke. The alleged charges against Dr. Luke are as follows: sexual assault, sexual harassment, gender violence, civil harassment, violation of unfair business laws, infliction of emotional distress (both intentional and negligent) and negligent retention and supervision. The full complaint is accessible on Scribd. By filing a lawsuit, Ke$ha’s hopes to void her existing contracts with Dr. Luke and his business subsidiaries, be allowed to work with other labels and publishing units, and receive damages (which I imagine would be hefty considering she hasn't been able to make music for a number of years). Dr. Luke quickly countered the lawsuit back in 2014 by filing one of his own. His alleged grievances fall under the grounds of defamation and a breach of contract, asserting that the "false and shocking accusations" in addition to Ke$ha's refusal to record were extortive. His complaint is also available on Scribd. Ke$ha's injunction was denied on Friday February 19 by New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich; if it had been accepted, the injunction would have allowed Ke$ha to record for new labels during the rest of the legal process.
Following the announcement, photos of Ke$ha dressed in white and hysterically sobbing in the courtroom have gone viral — fans and celebrities alike have used the internet as show of support for her.
A list compiled by Buzzfeed includes names like Wale, Lorde, and Kelly Clarkson who all took to Twitter to voice their support for Ke$ha and their anger towards the hypocrisy of the justice system. Taylor Swift even donated $250,000 towards Ke$ha’s expenses, Rolling Stone reported.
A recent video of Lady Gaga really hit the nail on the head where rape cases are concerned: “I don’t want to live in a country like [this]. I want to be somewhere where when a child says that he/she was raped, every adult in the room says, ‘Are you okay? What happened? Who was it? We want to help you’ – not ‘What were you wearing? What were you doing? Were you on drugs? Were you drinking?’”
The struggle is far from over, but I think Iggy said it perfectly: if nothing else, Ke$ha deserves the right to move on.
For more on this story, go to Rolling Stone.
Rachel Knowles is a junior at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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