A Manhattan judge made the striking decision legally compelling Kesha to uphold her contractually obligated agreement with Sony records, despite her appeal to nullify her contract and leave the company that employs the man she accused of raping her. According to the Daily News, Kesha accused one of Sony’s most successful producers, Dr. Luke, of drugging and raping her “shortly after her 18th birthday.” The court’s decision not to absolve the contract leaves Kesha with Sony’s solution—same label, different producer. The judge adheres that it would be wrong to “decimate a contract that was heavily negotiated.”
Kesha’s initial decision to file the lawsuit to liberate her contract was fueled by her doctors’ advice cautioning that furthering her work with Dr. Luke would be “life threatening,” following a stay in rehab for an eating disorder related issue, according to Billboard. In the lawsuit, Kesha originates Dr. Luke’s manipulation over her to when she was only seventeen, claiming he “induced” her to “drop out of high school…and come to Los Angeles to pursue a glamorous career in the music industry.” Unfortunately for Kesha the last decade along with fame and success she has also endured sexual, verbal, and emotionally abuse. Shortly after relocating to Los Angeles Kesha was welcomed with sexual advances, little guidance, and “despicable conduct” including tales of Dr. Luke’s non-consensual sexual escapades that meant getting girls “as drunk as possible.” The Hollywood Reporter details that Dr. Luke’s lawyers’ defense is that “Kesha’s claims came too late and are too vague.” Yet her lawsuit is filled with countless and detailed accounts of her abuse, including “On one occasion, Dr. Luke forced Ms. Sebert to snort an illicit drug before they were scheduled to take a flight, once on the plane, Dr. Luke continuously forced himself on Ms. Sebert while she was intoxicated and drugged.” The suit even specifies she was so intoxicated she threw up on herself.
In response to Kesha’s lawsuit, which “sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, civil harassment, unfair business, and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress,” Dr. Luke filed his own lawsuit and insists Kesha is just trying to get out of her contract. As reported by the Washington Post he is responsible for Kesha’s 2010 debut album, “Animal,” which went platinum and “he’s banged out a stream of hits, including Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone,” Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the U.S.A” Dr. Luke maintains that he “didn’t rape Kesha” and that he has “never had sex with her.” In a statement he said, “Kesha and I were friends for many years and she was like my little sister.”
For now #FreeKesha supporters have been vocal on twitter and donating to Kesha’s cause, including Taylor Swift who donated $250,000 in solidary and to fund “any of her financial needs” according to Taylor Swift’s spokesperson, Tree Paine. Along with Swift, many of the music industry’s most popular female artists are stepping forward in support of their peer. The legal battle continues as Dr. Luke returns her lawsuit with his own for defamation. Despite her loss Kesha responded with a sincere thank you to her fans tweeting, “Thank you for all the support in my legal case animals. I love all of you. It’s meant the world to me. xoxo”
Kesha’s litigation and suit against Dr. Luke undeniably stalled her career, which as evidenced by her debut album hitting platinum was rising. As I examined the lawsuit, went through article after article, and ultimately heard the court’s decision, I keep going back to the judge’s words that Kesha’s contract was “heavily negotiated.” How could heavy negotiation sincerely occur between a recent high school drop out, lured by a highly experienced producer, and Sony Music Entertainment? How does a record label have the ability to negotiate a deal securing an artist’s next six albums? Kesha’s lawsuit explicitly says she has been withheld “any meaningful profit from her work due to Dr. Luke’s exploitation of her over the last decade.” The contract that the judge was so weary about rescinding, at it’s core was designed to profit from Kesha’s youth and inexperience, and yield a heavy profit for everyone but her.