If you haven’t noticed, one of the most notorious (and most underrated, let’s be honest) pop stars of the past decade has been MIA lately. That was until she jumped back in the spotlight this past year. You might have seen the #FreedomForKesha tag trending on Twitter or seen something on the internet about her situation right now.
Here’s a little backstory if you’ve been living under a rock: in October 2014, Kesha, no longer sporting the dollar sign in her name and finally healthy and strong enough, sued her producer/manager, Dr. Luke for sexual assault. She stated that he’s been assaulting her “sexually, physically, emotionally, and verbally” over the past ten years to the point where she “nearly lost her life.” Dr. Luke, in return, sued Kesha’s lawyer for defamation and claimed she was lying just to get out of her contract.
The whole case is starting to get extremely serious and Kesha claims that this continuing assault is what triggered her eating disorder (for which she went into rehab earlier last year). He allegedly told her things like, “You’re not that pretty,” and, “You are not talented. You are just lucky to have me,” and apparently even called her a “fat f*cking refrigerator.” Yikes, a little harsh, don’tcha think?
Kesha’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, told Rolling Stone, “This lawsuit is a wholehearted effort by Kesha to regain control of her music career and her personal freedom after suffering … as a victim of mental manipulation, emotional abuse and sexual assault.”
Unfortunately, this kind of situation with women in the industry being treated unfairly isn’t that uncommon. Misogyny is widespread throughout the music industry and often tends to just be swept under the rug. A big figure in the music industry, Dr. Dre, has been accused of assault (sexual, physical, and emotional) multiple times. Many women who get big in this industry are often accused of “sleeping their way to the top,” as if they have no real talent and are only famous because of who they’ve slept with. Ridiculous.
Back to the Kesha story, the lawsuit is pretty much frozen right now until the court makes a judgement. That just makes this whole situation is ten times worse, because Kesha is at what’s called in impasse. This means she’s trapped and “faces a point of no return.” She’s not allowed to record new music, tour, have any creative control and basically can’t receive any media attention for her art, which really sucks.
Kesha is a tough girl and she’ll survive this and hopefully incredible new music will fill our ears soon enough. We’re all rooting for you, Kesha!