For months, we’ve all been following the lawsuit involving Kesha, Dr. Luke, and Sony. After Kesha stated that Dr. Luke sexually abused her, he fought back, denying the allegation. In February, the court rules that the pop singer must stick to her contract with Sony, sparking protest among fans and celebrities alike. Now, Kesha has reportedly filed an appeal to New York’s Supreme Court. Amidst this debate, Kesha’s lawyer Mark Geragos has also come out with statements supporting the musician, as we’d expect. But most recently, he was quoted making a comparison between Kesha’s situation and… slavery.
In a recent statement, Geragos said, “Although it recognized that ‘slavery was done away with a long time ago’ and that ‘[y]ou can’t can’t force someone to work … in a situation in which they don’t want to work,’ the Court’s ruling requiring Kesha to work for Gottwald’s companies, purportedly without his involvement, does just that.” In case that sweeping comment wasn’t controversial enough, Geragos made his point even clearer. “As the Court itself recognized, ‘[i]t’s slavery. You can’t do that.'” While we can all agree that Kesha’s in a predicament we wouldn’t wish on anybody, can we really equate Kesha’s legally binding contract to slavery?
In response to Geragos’ remarks, Dr. Luke’s lawyer responded with a statement of her own. According to Christine Lepera, Kesha’s continued attempts at justice are counterproductive since she doesn’t have the hard facts to solidify her side of the story. “The Court repeatedly stated Kesha was already free to record without Dr. Luke, and that she had not presented any facts supporting her claims. That’s because all the evidence—including Kesha’s own sworn testimony—show her allegations are false. Her attorneys can continue manufacturing even more false and outrageous claims, but the fact remains that her time would be better spent in a studio than wasting time having her lawyer and mother spin lies in the media,” Lepara said.